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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23789197">Scars and Denials</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousbella/pseuds/anonymousbella'>anonymousbella</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Romance, Slow Burn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 22:08:46</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>46,183</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23789197</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/anonymousbella/pseuds/anonymousbella</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens to a person left with deep scars once they find themselves unconsciously falling for someone they least expected?<br/>-Hey guys, since I've directly copied my work from FFN, there are some paragraphs that were not italicized compared to the original, in case what you're reading might get a little confusing along the way ;)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akashi Seijuurou/Original Female Character(s), Kise Ryouta/Original Female Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <strong>A/N: So with everything crazy happening in the world right now, we're definitely stuck in quarantine. While rewatching some favorite shows I decided to try my hand on a knb fanfic. Don't get me wrong, Akashi will still be my #1 knb boy, but I feel like this blonde is overrated yet underrated at the same time. Anyway, here it goes, please bare with me as I try to entertain my sanity while being stuck at home.</strong>
</p><p>----------------------------------------------------</p><p>Practice had just recently ended for Kaijo High's volleyball club. Being the captain when she was at Teiko, Aimi Takamoto was surely accepted without a doubt the moment her application form was passed to the team. Months have already passed since school started, yet being a person of few words didn't really attract her a lot of friends which is why she was relieved when she heard that a former school mate attended the same school as hers. The feeling was short-lived though the moment she found out who it was.</p><p>"Kyah! Have you guys seen Kise kun earlier? Good thing our gym is adjacent to theirs, I mean we get to have a glimpse of him up close during their practice!" Yui, a teammate and a fellow first year exclaimed giddily while they were done getting changed in the locker room.</p><p>"Yeah, if only those fan girls of his would scramble, then we'd definitely have a better view. Why are they allowing non-athletes to hang around the gym during practice hours anyway?" Pouted Maika, a second year from their club.</p><p>"Aw, come on, senpai! Can't you leave him to us first years? He's too young for you anyway!" The former shouted.</p><p>Maika slapped the short haired girl at the back of her head, clearly irritated. "Baka! Are you saying I'm that old? We're just a year apart!"</p><p>The two continued bickering as always. Yui was a loud and care-free kind of girl. She may look outspoken and a bit clumsy most of the time, but once in the court her moves are very much refined and unstoppable. She might also be the only person from her year that Aimi could consider as a friend up to date.</p><p>"That's enough, both of you!" As if right on cue, Rina, the current captain of the club came to the rescue.</p><p>As always, Aimi stayed out of the discussion. She couldn't help but find the topic of the argument ridiculous. Hearing her teammates fight over the blonde, she couldn't help but chuckle softly.</p><p>"Why can't you girls be like Aimi? She's known Kise before any of you, but you didn't see her gawking and clinging to him like a fan girl." Rina lectured.</p><p>"It's because they're friends!" Yui countered.</p><p>It's because I liked someone else. She thought.</p><p>Sighing, Aimi closed up her locker and grabbed her gym bag. "We're not friends, senpai. We just know each other."</p><p>Yui raises an eyebrow at her team mate before catching up to her as they head out the door.</p><p>"Seriously, Aimi-chan. A lot of girls would kill to be acknowledged as a friend by Kise kun you know."</p><p>The girl rolled her eyes at the proclamation. "Well, lucky me I guess?"</p><p>Yui sighed, feeling hopeless for her team mate. "I don't know what's wrong with you. You have easy access to the most handsome boy in our year, yet you don't feel anything?!"</p><p>As if to prove that fact, the basketball team has just left the gym as well. The tall blonde in question was obviously the center of attention with a lot of girls lining up to get a chance for an autograph.</p><p>Aimi and Kise have known each other since middle school, both being not in just any sports club, but in the strongest teams that ever graced Teiko Middle School. They say they were prodigies in their field of sport, and for that they were well known among the athletes throughout Japan, together with others from their respective teams. Kise was without a doubt a talented player, and with his good looks which allowed him to be a model outside his basketball hours, there's without a doubt an obvious reason as to why girls flock over to him wherever he went. Because Aimi is the opposite of Kise's nature- cheerful, outgoing and being a bit dramatic on the side, she can't understand why someone would suggest that she should be attracted to that sort of person.</p><p>There was one person, however, from the Teiko Basketball Club that Aimi had once liked. In fact, they sort of had a thing going on back then— or so she thought. But then that person changed. Actually, all of them did. That was probably the reason why she changed as well.</p><p>"Aicchi! There you are! Let's stop over the convenience store before heading home!" Kise clings to her like a lost puppy, pleading with his eyes to save him from the crowd of girls.</p><p>Aimi could hear girls whispering about her again. Although it was annoying that this happened everytime because of Kise, she did not actually care for such trivial things. No one dared to question her with her relationship with the blonde, thank goodness. Aside from the piercing cold stare she tends to give, everyone knew that both of them came from the same school thus the reason why they were 'close'.</p><p>Slipping her arm away from the blonde's grasp, she continued to walk away as if ignoring him. "Go there yourself, Ryota."</p><p>"Aicchi rejects me now!" Kise sobs in his usual dramatic way.</p><p>"As his former school mate, I apologize for his obnoxious behavior senpai." Aimi bows sincerely to the basketball club's captain.</p><p>Kasamatsu blushes a bit before stammering a response. He has heard of the girl from Kise. She was famous and a strong player in volleyball in their Middle School. It was a surprise she attended this school, after all she was more than qualified to attend Rakuzan. Her family was rich too, which had been no problem if she had chosen to attend the said institution. It was a mystery she decided to come here instead. It was definitely not because of Kise however, since the blonde was actually surprised as well when he learned that Takamoto san was in the school's volleyball club.</p><p>Not to mention she was actually kind of pretty. She wore no make up on, yet her face gives out the very definition of how simplicity is beauty. As she raised her head up, she tucks her long white hair to the back of her ear and smiles softly.</p><p>"U-uh. You don't need to apologize, Takamoto san. That idiot's actions are based on his own arrogance."</p><p>"Stop scaring our captain, Aicchi! He has girl phobia." Kise says in a failed attempt to make it come out as a whisper.</p><p>The dark haired senior kicked Kise hard on the back upon hearing this, causing the blonde to fall face flat on the ground.</p><p>"Stop hurting our Kise kun!"</p><p>"Oh, my! Our Kise is hurt!"</p><p>It seemed that his fan girls are still planning on lingering around.</p><p>Feeling that the situation is useless, Aimi starts to leave.</p><p>"Treat me to a popsicle." She says to what seems like no one in particular, but a certain blonde knew all too well who she was talking to.</p><p>Perking up, he happily ran over to join the girl with long white hair, muttering something about what flavor is the latest available in the market and whether or not she has already tried it.</p><p>"That doesn't look as 'not friends' to me." Rina, the volleyball team's captain says as all of the remaining members from both clubs observe the two walking ahead.</p><p>"They're not? But Kise knows her too well based on his stories from middle school." Kasamatsu scratches his head, confused.</p><p>"Aimi's definitely a tsundere, if no one has noticed by now. She also likes to keep things to herself. The fact that Kise knows a lot about her and she doesn't really ignore him completely, there's definitely at least some level of friendship there no matter how hard she denies it all the time." Yui explains.</p><p>Realizing that the volleyball team is with them, Kasamatsu blushes once again. "R-right. Uhm."</p><p>"Oi! For goodness sake, Yukio. They're not gonna bite you. We've known each other for so long, yet you still haven't gotten past talking to other girls casually!" Rina exclaims while slapping Kasamatsu at the back of his head.</p><p>"Huh, but Rina senpai is a girl too yet you don't seem to get nervous around her?" The ever so outspoken Yui speaks up.</p><p>"Rina? A girl? Since when?" The dark haired captain had the nerve to ask amidst the pain on his back head.</p><p>Rina was about to give the boy another beating when another senior from the basketball team stops her.</p><p>"Now, now. Rina chan. It's been a while since we got together like this. Why don't you two stop fighting like old lovers and let's join those two for some after school snacks?" Hayakawa says.</p><p>It was now the volleyball club's captain's turn to blush. "What the hell are you talking about, Mitsuhiro?! Like I would fancy a guy as hopeless like him!"</p><p>Ignoring the outbursts of both captains, Hayakawa calls out to the two first years walking up ahead.</p><p>"Oi! You two! Wait up, we'll be joining you!"</p><p>Having heard his senior, Kise waves in acknowledgement to the group behind.</p><p>"I didn't know that our club's seniors were quite close." Aimi says, having heard the loud conversation that took place.</p><p>"That's because you never cared enough to pay attention as always, Aicchi. Besides, doesn't this feel like old times? We used to hang out like this back then as well." Kise answers knowingly.</p><p>He was right. Aimi knew Teiko's first string basketball team all too well, especially the Generation of Miracles. They would always go out to convenience stores after practice. That's when she first met the only person who has probably caught her attention.</p><p>"But I guess it's probably not the same as well. I mean, with Akashichhi and the others not here."</p><p>"You're talking too much again Ryota."</p><p>That's right. The only person who Aimi Takamoto has probably liked was non other than the captain of the Generation of Miracles, Akashi Seijuro. After what happened however, she didn't know if she'd ever learn to like someone again.</p><p>Scanning over the variety of flavors in the freezer, she settled for her favorite.</p><p>"Aww, but I wanted mango too!" Kise whined, scratching his head while rummaging through the contents of the small container.</p><p>"Then go get one yourself." Aimi deadpanned.</p><p>"But that was the last one, Aicchi." He pouted.</p><p>She simply gives out a shrug and places the popsicle on top of the counter, silently giving him a look that signals him to hurry up.</p><p>Grabbing a random flavor, he still had his pouted expression while begrudgingly paying for both popsicles.</p><p>"You know, I'm curious. How come you two seem well acquainted with each other?" Yui asks, having appeared behind them together with the rest of the volleyball and basketball group.</p><p>"Because he's always a show-off and keeps on pestering everyone for his attention." Aimi says without hesitation.</p><p>"You're so mean, Aicchi!" And with that, the blonde fakes a sob once again.</p><p>"I would appreciate it if you would quit your dramatics even just for a while, Ryota kun. I'm trying to enjoy my popsicle" She sighs while breaking the popsicle in two and giving the other half to Kise.</p><p>"Wuhoo! Thanks so much Aicchi!" He grins happily while taking the popsicle and munching it down happily, clearly not bothering to open his own anymore.</p><p>"What do you mean 'thank you'? You're giving me your whole popsicle in return." The white haired girl says menacingly as the blonde had no choice but to hand her over the unopened treat.</p><p>The group continued to watch their exchange, clearly waiting for a proper response to Yui's question.</p><p>"Aicchi was our club's co-manager." Kise simply answers, sensing everyone's thoughts.</p><p>"Ehh?!" Everyone chorused, clearly not expecting that new bit of information.</p><p>"But you were captain of Teiko's volleyball club, were you not Aimi chan?" Rina asked.</p><p>She didn't want to go over with the explanations. Luckily Kise did not bother to be the one doing the talking.</p><p>"She was. She was also the manager of the Generation of Miracles. Momoicchi was manager for the whole basketball club. That includes second and third string. Since our club is huge, she had a co-manager who was in charge solely of us." He explained thoughtfully.</p><p>Moriyama, one of his seniors let out a low whistle. "That's quite impressive considering you were captain of your own club. I heard Teiko's volleyball club was on par with the basketball club when it came to achievements. Too bad you aren't single. "</p><p>"Excuse me?" Aimi blinked upon hearing the last statement.</p><p>"Come on, you don't expect us to buy the whole friends thing between you two?" The senior presses.</p><p>"Yeah, Aimi chan. You always tell us even that you're not friends with him, yet whenever our practices coincide with each other you always end up walking home together." Maika butts in.</p><p>Aimi can't believe where this discussion is heading. Clearly irritated, she pinches the bridge of her nose and lets out a deep sigh before glaring at Kise.</p><p>"This is why I always tell you to stop pestering me you ungrateful, overly dramatic idiot."</p><p>"That was cold Aicchi! What did I do?!" The blonde whines before addressing the rest of the group, scratching his head.</p><p>"Now, now, senpais. It's really true that we're just friends. Besides, she was with A—"</p><p>"That's enough, Kise."</p><p>The sudden use of his last name sent chills down everyone's spine. It was the way she said it: low, cold and piercing that prompted Kise enough to seriously stop the discussion.</p><p>She didn't want to talk about anything about him being related to her that way. As soon as she dreaded why, no matter how much she wanted to stop it a sudden flash of memories came rushing in.</p><p>"Those types of emotions are a sign of weakness. You'll just be a hindrance to me."</p><p>Not wanting to press the topic any further, she threw her now finished popsicle in the trash and walked past the group.</p><p>"I'm going home, senpais, everyone." She says, not bothering to look at them.</p><p>Kise knew better than to annoy her more, so he stayed behind and let her walk home alone for today.</p><p>"Is Takamoto san always that scary?" Kasamatsu finally managed to ask after a moment of silence.</p><p>"I've known her for the past couple of months. She may be a bit quiet and keeps to herself most of the time, but this was the first time I saw this kind of reaction." Rina said, still looking at the direction she disappeared to.</p><p>A sudden low chuckle from Kise caught everyone's attention. He scratches the back of his head and gives them a lopsided grin.</p><p>"That was probably my fault. Aimicchi probably doesn't want to talk much about our middle school days. She wasn't always like that though. She gradually changed the moment we all did..." He faltered for a moment, but then resumed back quickly to his cheerful self.</p><p>"Anyway! I don't think it's in my position to say anything." He adds cheerfully, but the finality in his tone was quite evident.</p><p>"Still... To be captain of the strongest middle school volleyball team and a manager of the Generation of Miracles, that's quite a heavy responsibility to handle." His senior Nakamura said for the first time.</p><p>"That's just a piece of cake for her. Aimicchi is just like us. Her skills and talents are on a different level." The blonde boasted before earning another kick from his captain.</p><p>"Would you stop being so arrogant all the time?!" Kasamatsu scolded.</p><p>"Ouch, senpai! I was just telling the truth..." He says while scratching his butt from where his captain's foot hit him.</p><p>"I have no doubt with what Kise said. She's actually a genius in the court. Her skills are just frightening. We would actually have a chance against Rakuzan this year at the Winter Cup. I guess that's expected for an athlete from the main team of Teiko." Rina says thoughtfully.</p><p>"I agree! Aimi chan's amazing when she plays! I wish I could reach a level as hers... Oh but anyway, Kise kun! Since we're all already here, do you mind if I take a selfie with you?" Yui suddenly asked, eyes sparkling at the blonde. There was no way she would pass up an opportunity like this. It's not everyday after all that you get to hang out with the current most popular guy in school.</p><p>"Ah.. Hehe, sure. Yui san is it?" Kise says smiling, not wanting to disappoint the girl. He always saw her with Aimi when she was not alone to herself reading somewhere. He could only assume that she was one of the few friends the girl had made in school.</p><p>As the short haired girl happily snapped the photo, the seniors from the basketball team couldn't help but groan and roll their eyes at what seems to be another fan girl of their newest team mate.</p><p>"This is too unfair. How come I cannot get a girl to like me? I'm not ugly, aren't I Rina chan?" Moriyama asks the volleyball team's captain.</p><p>The fiesty brunette rolled her eyes at the question of her school mate.</p><p>"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to, Moriyama." She answered, earning a snicker from all the seniors in the group as they proceed to pack up and prepare to go home.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I'm leaving, mom." Aimi calls out before heading to the door.</p><p>"Take care, love! Oh, by the way. Your dad will be in town this weekend. He says he wants to meet you." Her mom calls out before the teen.</p><p>Aimi sighed. She didn't really want to meet up with her father right now. The last thing she needed was another lecture and scrutinizing on how she should be the best in every school activity she would be involved in. Although her parents were divorced, her father still made it a point to acknowledge her as his daughter and the current only heir to their family business. This is also the main reason he wanted her to always observe and maintain excellence in everything as much as possible.</p><p>"Do I really have to?" She asked carefully, not really wanting to sound impolite.</p><p>Her mom gives her a knowing look and smiles softly. "He's still your father, hun. Besides, that's the least you could do to make up to him for choosing to stay with me here and not attending Rakuzan."</p><p>"Okay, fine." She answers, clearly defeated.</p><p>She knew she was actually set to stay with her father in Kyoto and attend Rakuzan once she graduated from Teiko. After her incident with a certain red haired captain, however, she begged both her parents one day to let her remain with her mother here at Kanagawa knowing that he planned to enter the said school as well. She finally got her father to agree, with the condition that she should maintain and achieve excellence as expected for an heir of the Takamoto household.</p><p>"Before I forget, I might as well inform you that I might be home late. I have three surgeries scheduled tonight, so you don't need to wait up. You can just have dinner outside as well if you wish." Her mother added.</p><p>Aimi nodded, expecting nothing less from what she said. She didn't really mind being alone since she was used to it ever since she was little. Her father was a business man and her mother was a cardiologist. Both of them were always away for work most of the time.</p><p>The rest of the morning at school was nothing out of the ordinary. Pretty soon after, lunch finally came and the quiet, empty halls soon became filled with students rushing for lunch break.</p><p>"Hey, Aimi chan! Why don't you join us for lunch? We're going to the cafeteria for some pork buns." Yui called out to her team mate, seeing she was alone inside her classroom as they passed by.</p><p>The white haired girl seemed to be reading a book as usual while eating some fruits from her bento. She spared Yui a glance before closing the reading material.</p><p>"Thank you for the offer Makoto san, but I don't really like crowded places such as the cafeteria." She said with a polite smile.</p><p>Knowing she can't be forced into coming, she decided to let her be.</p><p>"You're no fun, Aimi chan. Next time I'll definitely have lunch with you!" The short haired girl pouted and waved as she and her classmates proceeded down the hall.</p><p>Deciding that she wanted a change of place, she picked up her book once again and walked to the school's courtyard.</p><p>With the book in hand, she flipped through the pages boredly while walking to a secluded spot by the school's garden. That was when she heard someone call out her name.</p><p>"Aimicchi!"</p><p>Great. She thought, not bothering to stop nor look up to see who it was. Not that she needed to anyway.</p><p>Kise was apparently on his way to the cafeteria to have lunch with the basketball team, however he got stopped by a group of girls once again asking either for a photo, an autograph or just some bunch of random questions about him. While trying to come up with an escape plan, he luckily saw a flash of familiar long white hair walking from afar. That's when he got the idea of how to break free from the now growing crowd.</p><p>He jogged quickly to catch up to the girl even though she seemed to give no sign that she heard him. Anything to get him away from that chaos, really.</p><p>"Where are you going, Aimicchi?" Kise asked cheerfully, eager to go anywhere safe from his fan girls.</p><p>"Somewhere no one would bother me." She answered, still not looking up from her book.</p><p>The blonde however continued to follow her anyway. Thankfully he did not pester her much with his annoyingly cheerful questions and decided to walk with her in silence until she found an empty secluded bench by the corner.</p><p>"Ne, we've changed schools and all yet even though you were always the quiet one you still get attention from a lot of people." Kise says while sitting beside her, being able to relax for once without anyone to bother him.</p><p>Aimi finally looks up from her book for a split second to look at her surroundings. She could see passersby looking at them and whispering. Even those who were hanging out around the vicinity within their eye range kept on glancing by their direction.</p><p>"Don't be ridiculous Ryota kun. They're looking because of you and not me. Why are you here anyway? Don't you have an autograph signing session or something?" She questions sarcastically.</p><p>"Why do you always bully me, Aimicchi?!" He pouted. "Besides, that isn't entirely true at all! Sure, I may be famous, but a lot of people know you as well! I even heard my classmates the other day talk about you. After all, you even managed to catch Akashicchi's attention." Kise practically sang the last part, much to her annoyance.</p><p>She stiffened by the mention of the name for a mere split second, but not fast enough for the blonde not to notice.</p><p>"Say Aimicchi, what really happened to you and Akashicchi?" He suddenly asked, all playfulness gone from his voice for a moment. "I mean, we all know he changed into someone else, but we didn't expect you to change as well. One day you just stopped talking to each other, and it was just a few weeks after our graduation too."</p><p>Aimi finally looked up at him properly. She knew he was serious about wanting to know the answer to that question. After all, Akashi and him were former team mates and once friends.</p><p>"Like you're one to talk, Ryota kun. Don't act like as if we're the only one who wasn't like how we once were. It's not only him who has changed. You all did. We all did." She answered, not bothering to hide the bitterness in her voice.</p><p>The boy could only smirk, not bothering to think of a good comeback. As he stretched his arms out, he soon returned back to his carefree manner.</p><p>"That can't be helped, Aimicchi. You of all people should also know how it feels when you're better than most people and there's no one to truly challenge you. Besides, we all made an oath upon graduation. Whoever emerges the champion during the Winter Cup is clearly the strongest among us. I'm definitely going to beat Aominecchi this time." He says confidently.</p><p>Aimi could again suddenly see the motivation that once had been lost in his eyes, along with the rest of his former team mates. But this was different, however. They were all only now focused on winning and who was stronger. All the love and passion they once showed and had for basketball was completely lost.</p><p>
  <em>"I can't believe you guys did that to Tetsuya! What were you thinking, Seijuro?! Did it not occur to you how would the other team feel after mercilessly playing with them like that?" Aimi shouts at Akashi after the match they had with Kuroko's old friend.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"They lost because they were simply weak, Aimi." The red haired boy responded calmly yet with finality in his voice.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"It doesn't matter whether they win or not! It was how you treated them and how you made them feel afterwards!" She says, desperate to wake the old Akashi in him.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>"Winning has no place for the weak. Emotions make you weak. If you can't understand that, then I have no use of you anymore."</em>
</p><p>"Hey, Ryota kun. What does winning mean?" Aimi suddenly speaks up, still looking at the blonde.</p><p>Kise was mildy surprised by the sudden question. It was the same question he and his former team mates asked Kuroko. He stared back at the girl in front of him, searching for any trace of hint from her eyes that she had knowledge of it. He couldn't find any proof however, for she was really good to mask her emotions with her cold expression much like him albeit being the opposite of her quiet demeanor.</p><p>Forming another playful smile on his face, he decided to ignore the seriousness of her question.</p><p>"It simply means that you're the strongest and the best, and that's going to be me, Aimicchi!" The blonde exclaims, relaxing his back on the bench with his arms now crossed at the back of his head.</p><p>Aimi knew she wasn't contented with the answer. However, she did not bother pressing the subject any further. She did not want to relive such painful memories again, not when she felt like she had finally gotten over the red haired emperor and moved forward.</p><p>"By the way Aimicchi, our coach said that we're going to have a practice match with Seirin! I suppose you know who's going there, don't you?" Kise informs.</p><p>"Of course I do. He's still a member of the Generation of Miracles after all." The girl responds.</p><p>"Man, I don't know why Kurokocchi has chosen such a school, but I definitely am curious to find out why! Ne, Aimicchi, do you want to accompany me to Seirin this afternoon after class?" The blonde offers excitedly.</p><p>Aimi never really got the chance to see nor speak to Kuroko after the incident. He never showed up in the club after, plus she was too preoccupied with her own troubles.</p><p>"Okay." That was her only reply.</p><p>The blonde smiles widely in joy. "This is going to be exciting! I wonder if Kurokocchi found some strong players to go against us this time around."</p><p>As always, arrogance was an issue with all the members of the Generation of Miracles.</p><p>Classes have finally ended, and Aimi as always began packing up her things quietly without any bother to say goodbye to anyone from the room.</p><p>"Aimi chan! Do you want to hang out today at the mall before going home?" Yui offers once again.</p><p>"No thanks, Yui san. I have somewhere to go to today." She politely declined.</p><p>As if right on cue, a piece of blonde hair came peeking through their classroom door.</p><p>"Aimicchi! Come on hurry up or we're gonna miss the train!" Kise calls out cheerfully.</p><p>As expected, murmurs from everyone remaining in the room started to errupt.</p><p>"My my, Aimi chan. You could have just told me that you have a date with Kise kun you know." Yui nudges teasingly.</p><p>"Ne, Takamoto san, is it true that you're dating Kise sama?" One of their classmates who was with Yui couldn't help but ask.</p><p>Aimi sighed at how annoying these gossips are getting.</p><p>"You're just as ridiculous as that idiot, Yui... And no. I am not going on a date with Ryota. We're going to Seirin to visit a... friend."</p><p>It felt weird to call her former friends that. Were they still considered as a friend after all the change that has happened?</p><p>"Hmm. I see. Could it be that he's an old team mate of theirs?" Yui continued to probe.</p><p>"Yes." She just replied, not eager to elaborate any further.</p><p>Yui smiles knowingly. Even though she badly wanted Aimi to open up a bit to more people in school, she was at least glad to see her finally showing some sign of friendship that she had with someone. At the very least, she wasn't as cold and as aloof as she wanted others to seem.</p><p>"Very well, but next time you're going to have to hang out with us! See you later then!" She calls out, dragging her friends along with her who seemed clearly wanting to ask more questions about the popular blonde standing by the doorway.</p><p>Thankful that her teammate is at least aware of her irritation to questioning, she grabbed her bag and left to join Kise before another crowd of his fangirls started to gather and cause a scene.</p><p>"Didn't I tell you to stop causing a scene? You could have just waited for me by the school entrance." She glared at the blonde who didn't bother to feel the very least bit apologetic.</p><p>"I was just being a gentleman, Aimicchi! Even Akashicchi took his time to come get you after class once in a while after all." He teased.</p><p>"I would appreciate it if you stopped mentioning his name Ryota kun." Her cold voice was unwavering.</p><p>"Just kidding! Sheesh, you need to lighten up." He says, arms in the air gesturing a defeat.</p><p>The travel to Seirin wasn't quite that long. Before they knew it, the two teens were now already standing by the school's entrance. It wasn't long before they were gone unnoticed however. Aside from wearing different uniforms from the students in the area, the blonde's face seemed impossible to not be noticed.</p><p>"Excuse me, uhm, you're that model Kise right? May we have a picture with you?" One of the girls from Seirin suddenly asked as she approached the tall blonde.</p><p>In a matter of seconds, a flock of girls soon emerged and crowded the boy. It was a good thing Aimi soon kept her distance and managed to not get swallowed up by the crowd.</p><p>"Aimicchi! Don't just leave me here!" The blonde called out to her.</p><p>"I have no intention to get caught up in that mess of yours Ryota kun. I'll see you at the court when you're finally done with your business." She answers back nonchalantly as she ignored the boy's protests while walking away to find the basketball gym on her own.</p><p>She managed to slip into the gym unnoticed, choosing to sit down by the far end of the bleachers. As she scanned the area, it only took a moment for her to spot the blue haired boy. Usually he had no presence to everyone, but she was one of the few who seem to be aware of him even if no one wasn't. After all, she wasn't a manager of the Generation of Miracles for just any reason. Her keen eye to assess things and people could almost be up to par with Akashi's.</p><p>Her hidden presence was short-lived however. She knew the girl who seemed to act as their coach noticed her not long after. Thankfully, before anyone else did, Kise stole the spotlight just in time.</p><p>"Huh..? What's happening?" Their coach asked confused.</p><p>That was when Kise revealed himself, apologizing for the ruckus he has caused and informed them that this won't take a minute.</p><p>While he tried to placate the girls and with the help of the other members of Seirin, the crowd finally dispersed.</p><p>That was when he finally got his chance to introduce himself and talk to Kuroko.</p><p>Everyone was aware that he was one of the Generation of Miracles. The Seirin basketball team looked intimidated to be honest, despite trying their best to hide it.</p><p>From the far end of the bleachers, Aimi felt a familiar presence. Someone who once had been like them. Yet it felt incomplete, unrefined. Noticing the huge boy by the corner staring intently at Kise, he grabbed a ball from the racks while everyone was busy preoccupied with the blonde's presence.</p><p>No one has noticed though, not even Kise, when a ball suddenly came charging sharply towards his direction. Of course, being with exceptional talent, the blonde felt it and stopped it with ease not long before it hit him.</p><p>Not one to not return the favor, the blonde accepts the challenge of the boy who was apparently called Kagami. Needless to say, the team was in shock, which even impressed Aimi slightly, to see that Kise has indeed improved to that extent.</p><p>"Now that was disappointing. Why don't you hand over Kurokocchi to us?" The blonde said coolly, extending an arm over to Kuroko.</p><p>"I respect you very much Kurokocchi, and I feel like you're wasting your talents away if you stay here." He adds.</p><p>Aimi thought that he wasn't entirely correct however. When she laid eyes on Kagami, she just knew that with the right training, he had a potential that could come out as strong as the level that the Generation of Miracles possessed.</p><p>Finally deciding to move from her place, she quietly stood up and slowly approached the group below. Kuroko was the first to finally notice her when she finally stood just behind the tall blonde who was talking to them.</p><p>"It's been a while, Takamoto san." The small boy suddenly said.</p><p>Everyone turned their eyes to the person he was referring to, and there behind the tall blonde stood a girl with long hair white as snow, standing curtly with her hands tucked behind. She showed no hint of emotion, whatsoever, which was clearly difficult to tell whether or not she was glad to see a former acquaintance. Just as everyone started to wonder who she was, Kise suddenly yelled out.</p><p>"There you are Aimicchi! How could you be so cruel to leave me behind to deal with those girls earlier?!" Kise whined.</p><p>Clearly used to Kise's drama as well as Kuroko was, she ignored the blonde and gave the blue haired boy a stare.</p><p>"Indeed, it has been, Tetsuya-kun." She said, and finally, even just for a little bit, the corners of her mouth twitched slightly upward to reveal a small smile of acknowledgement.</p><p>"Wait! I've seen her, she was also in the article I've showed you guys earlier!" A first year from the Seirin team exclaimed while quickly flipping through the pages of the magazine he was reading to them about Kise a moment ago.</p><p>"Aimi Takamoto, Teiko Junior High's volleyball club captain, doubles as the co-manager of the legendary Generation of Miracles. Considered as also a prodigy in her field of sport, her exceptional talents are a reckoning force to add up to support the basketball team's own prodigies." He begins to read out loud.</p><p>"You've got to be kidding me. Is Teiko that really full of monsters?" One of the seniors from Seirin said.</p><p>"I appreciate it if you wouldn't compare me with them, senpai kun." The white haired girl says simply.</p><p>Startling the captain of the Seirin team, he momentarily blushes after realizing his lack of tact.</p><p>"I apologize, Takamoto san. I wasn't really thinking much when I said that." He says and bows to her as a sign of apology.</p><p>"The Generation of Miracle's manager and captain of the volleyball club? And now she's with Kise at Kaijo. We're definitely doomed." Another guy suddenly blurted out.</p><p>"Shut up, all of you or I'm gonna make you run 50 more laps around the court!" The acting coach suddenly said to the rest of the team. As soon as they all immediately obeyed, she turned back around to face the two outsiders.</p><p>"We appreciate you taking your time off coming to visit Kuroko kun. Are you perhaps Kise's girlfriend as well?" She asks Aimi.</p><p>"He's just a friend, as well as with Tetsuya kun." She answers politely, albeit already starting to get tired with everyone assuming so.</p><p>"Aww, Aimicchi! You finally admitted that we're friends once again! Doesn't this feel like old times, ne Kurokocchi? Kise exclaims teasingly while clinging to Aimi's arm like a child.</p><p>She tries to shake them off, and after successfully doing so another first year from Seirin spoke up.</p><p>"Uh... Kise kun seems awfully close to you however."</p><p>"That's just how Kise kun acts towards people he acknowledges." Kuroko says, saving her from further explanation.</p><p>"Besides, she is our former captain's ex-girlfriend." He added coldly, surprising her and everyone else for saying that.</p><p>Aimi smiled sadly towards the blue haired boy. Perhaps his bitterness towards Akashi's actions extended to her, seeing as she was close to him and therefore must had some kind of influence at least. She couldn't blame him though, what they did was uncalled for. The worst part is, she wasn't able to do anything but to watch the team change for the worst.</p><p>"Now, now, Kurokocchi. You know that Aimicchi doesn't have anything to do with this." Kise says, starting to get worried knowing the cold and scary side of the girl.</p><p>But I could have had done something about it before you guys turned out to be like this. Aimi thought. But it was too late, she decided. She'd leave their fate in the hands of the boy who still carried the remaining values the rest of the team once had in them.</p><p>"It was nice to see you again, Tetsuya kun." She said finally, while turning to the boy who challenged Kise earlier.</p><p>"Taiga Kagami, was it?" She said more like a statement rather than a question, having heard him introduce himself earlier to Kise.</p><p>The boy scratched the back of his neck, clearly not knowing how to react as she just suddenly showed a soft knowing smile only Kuroko and Kise would have probably understood.</p><p>Aimi didn't say anything else, as the room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop. After what feels like minutes, she finally spoke up, breaking the silence.</p><p>"We'd better get going Ryota kun. I believe you already saw what you came for." She tells the blonde, still facing Kagami and the rest of the team.</p><p>"Wha-? But, Aimicchi! I haven't convinced Kurokocchi yet to come with us! Kurokocchi, join our school, let's play together again." Kise once again offers the small boy staring at them.</p><p>Kuroko doesn't budge however as expected and formally declines Kise for everyone to hear.</p><p>"I've already made a promise with Kagami to defeat the Generation of Miracles Kise kun. I'm very serious when I tell you so." Kuroko answers.</p><p>Aimi smiles genuinely for the first time in a long while. As she turned her back to the group to leave, she called out once again to her former friend.</p><p>"I'm looking forward to how it would turn out, Tetsuya kun." She says as she gives a quick glance to Kagami and back to him. "Let's go, Ryota kun. We need to catch the train soon."</p><p>Seeing the resolve and seriousness from Kuroko, albeit hesitantly, he follows the girl and tells the rest of the team that he'll be seeing them again soon in the practice match.</p><p>"Akashi Seijuro's ex-girlfriend, huh." Riko Aida, Seirin's coach says once the two were out of sight. "Kuroko, how was your former captain like?"</p><p>Kuroko did not give them an answer. Instead, he stared curiously at the spot where his former team mate and manager disappeared to. He didn't have to answer the question just yet, but he knew already that from the powerful aura the two were emitting a while ago that his teammates at least understood that the person in question was much more on a whole different level.</p><p>He didn't miss the way Aimi acknowledged Kagami kun either. He knew Kise noticed it as well, which is probably why he resigned so easily when he refused his offer. Both of them knew Aimi saw something, maybe a hint of potential in his current team mate. It was the hint of sadness in her eyes that made him more curious however. Like the rest of his former team, it was hard not to wonder what happened between them and Akashi for her to lose the caring side of her. She was still a bit cold and aloof, that was a fact, but at least not towards them. She wasn't even able to develop a bond with her former volleyball team mates unlike the one she shared with the basketball team.</p><p>He was sure however, that he was able to see a small trace of the old Aimi when he declared his promise to Kise a while ago. He knew for a fact that she was still in there, and that she wasn't gone completely. She was just only hiding it, closing herself up to the others and to the rest of the world. What had warrant her to do so, what he only could deduce was that Akashi definitely left a scar on her deep enough to not heal easily.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aimi stayed relatively quiet all throughout the journey home. Not that she wasn't really a quiet person to begin with, but she never really did utter not even a single word despite Kise's non stop attempts on starting a conversation. After a while, Kise finally seemed to admit defeat and stopped talking as well, taking in the moment as an opportunity to just perhaps relax during the journey home.</p><p>Aimi was deep in thought. Sure, she expected Kuroko to be upset but she didn't expect to see a strong resolve in him to show his former team mates how wrong their ideals were. It was indeed admirable that Kuroko managed to stay true to himself, unlike her who shut off everything, especially the past and tried to forget about it to move forward.</p><p>Perhaps she was just a coward, she thought, trying to act tough and strong on the outside by masking her true feelings with her cold and aloof personality. Wasn't that easier however, than to deal with her emotions? It was easier to shut everything out, to not give a damn about someone. After all, the one time she finally learned to open up and show some care for someone was also the same time she got hurt.</p><p>Yes, emotions were indeed a weakness, just as Akashi had said. It did nothing good. Instead it only makes one more vulnerable. Perhaps that's the reason she refused to make friends. She did not really turn away people completely, but she wasn't one to initiate either. She then peered at the now quiet blonde beside her.</p><p>Kise had finally learned to shut up after countless non-stop babbling ever since they left Seirin. She figured he grew tired of his own hyperness, seeing that he was now leaning back on his seat, his head rested on the window of the train with eyes closed. Even back in middle school, he was always the loudest among the bunch. He seemed to never ran out of happy hormones, even when everyone was tired and just wanted to rest he still had the energy to smile and goof around. It was really annoying to be honest, but he really clicked with everyone in the group. She did click well with them too.</p><p>Suddenly, for a moment, she missed everyone. They were her only friends after all. They were the first ones who never really judged her, perhaps maybe they all understood each other given that they all had skill levels higher than any ordinary student that no one could really understand. She felt normal around them, which prompted her to little by little open up a bit to people. Sadly though, she's not sure if such a time that everyone would come and hang out together just like the old times would ever happen again.</p><p>Not that it mattered anymore.</p><p>"I'm hungry. Dinner's on you tonight." She finally says, pretty sure that her companion wasn't sleeping at all.</p><p>True to that, the blonde suddenly opens up his left eye to peer at the girl beside him.</p><p>"Finally decided that the silence was already defeaning, eh Aicchi?" He says while closing his eyes once again, trying to savor the few minutes left before they get to their stop.</p><p>"I wouldn't mind not saying anything more until you go crazy without anyone to talk to, Ryota kun." She glares as the train prepares to come to a halt.</p><p>"Don't be such a stubborn brat, Aicchi. Even you couldn't stand being that awfully quiet all the time." He answers while stretching his arms and standing up.</p><p>"Since dinner's on me, then we'll be having some ramen tonight!" He exclaims, being back to his energetic self.</p><p>Once they finally settled on a place to eat, Kise suddenly opened up a question that Aimi probably had already expected coming.</p><p>"Ne, Aicchi. Why don't you come be our manager for Kaijo's basketball team? We could use someone like you. Once the others find out about it, they'd definitely know that we'll be a lot more harder to beat than expected." He says.</p><p>By 'they', he most certainly meant the other Generation of Miracles. Having to deal already with Kise, that couldn't be helped. Facing the other remaining Miracles, however, she wasn't sure if she was ready to see them with how they currently are yet. Seeing Kuroko earlier however gave her even just a small bit of hope to wake them up and knock them off their current thrones.</p><p>"No." She replies which earns a frown from Kise.</p><p>"Come on, Aicchi! It's not as if you can't handle it. We all know that isn't an issue here." He pleads.</p><p>"My answer still stands. I'm done with that kind of nonsense."</p><p>Her response earns a soft chuckle from the blonde. She raises an eyebrow, clearly not expecting that kind of reaction.</p><p>"You know, Aicchi, change is part of growing up. We are all bound to change, for better or for worse. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. What I think is wrong however, is not acknowledging change. How do you think someone would be able to grow and be a better person then?" Kise tells her.</p><p>Aimi blinked at his words. He was definitely not wrong though, but she just didn't expect it to come from him, at the very least.</p><p>"Wow, I didn't think you were capable of such words. You have indeed really changed, Ryota kun." She says ironically.</p><p>"I'm serious here, Aicchi!" Kise whines. "Help me win."</p><p>Help. That was actually considered a foreign word when it comes to the Generation of Miracles' vocabulary. Perhaps she could still save the boy in front of her, even if she isn't able to do so for the remaining four. She stares back at the blonde, scrutinizing his level of sincerity upon his words.</p><p>"I'll think about it." She mutters.</p><p>Hearing her considering the offer was a good enough answer for Kise as he happily finished his meal.</p><p>The following day, Aimi woke up with a bad mood. Her father finally managed to contact her, informing that he was indeed going to be in town during the weekend and wanted her to attend a social gathering with all his business peers. What's more irritating is that he expected her to bring a 'nice' escort with her.</p><p>I expect no less from you. Make sure you bring a companion with a good enough image to not embarrass our family name.</p><p>Where was she going to look for someone who would agree to put up with a bunch of rich businessmen and politicians for one whole boring night? She groaned upon realizing what a bother this would be. Honestly, there won't be much of an issue if she showed up alone. Her father however would give her quite an earful if she did that. He always wanted to be known as the man with a wide array of prominent contacts, which goes as well as the image he wanted for his daughter. It's quite a lot of work though, for she wasn't the social type of person.</p><p>Good thing she had training with the volleyball club this afternoon. That would at least keep her mind off family matters for a while.</p><p>The Seirin basketball team was greeted by Kise the moment they arrived at Kaijo. He was hoping to have Aimi agree to be their manager before their practice match however. It would definitely make the opposing team more intimidated with them than they already are.</p><p>As they make their way to the gym, the guys from Seirin noticed that their sports facilities were huge. It was noted that Kaijo had three large gyms for their athletes, and adjacent to the basketball gym was where the volleyball team was. Passing by the volleyball club, the Seirin team members couldn't help but stare with what they suddenly saw.</p><p>Among the players doing drills, Aimi was one of them. She did not notice the outsiders however, being too focused on their own regimen. It was a coincidence that it was Aimi's turn to hit the ball, and when the setter tossed over the ball to the air she smashed it down with one swift spike that it was impossible for the three receivers on the other side of the net to even see before it hit the ground.</p><p>All the members from Seirin stood there stunned in silence.</p><p>"Damn, I don't really understand volleyball but I could tell from that move that it was beyond any ordinary level." Izuki, a senior from the team said.</p><p>"It's no wonder she got along with the Generation of Miracles. Was she always this good, Kuroko Kun?" Riko asked.</p><p>The small blue haired boy only nodded, eyes also fixated on his former manager. "Just like the Miracles, she has and no doubt is continuing to improve and awaken her skills even more than expected."</p><p>They continued to proceed to the basketball gym, clearly more intimidated that Kaijo had players like them in the sports department.</p><p>Surprisingly however, but not quite unexpected, Aimi heard that Kise lost his match with Kuroko and Kagami. As training ended earlier for the volleyball team, she rushed towards the other gym, not bothering to change out of her training jersey. She was hoping to watch the game, but since it ended before their own training did, she just intended to catch Kise and hopefully Seirin still there. It was Kise's first ever lost after all. That definitely wouldn't sit out well with him.</p><p>To her dismay, however, Kise was long gone when she got there. Luckily Kuroko and the others were still in the gym when she arrived.</p><p>Kaijo's basketball team was surprised to see the girl enter their gym. It was the first time ever that she even bothered to come. She wasn't the sociable type of person after all.</p><p>"Takamoto san! Er... could we help you with something?" Kasamatsu mumbled, surprised along with the others that she suddenly showed up.</p><p>Hesitantly, she looked around the Kaijo basketball team, but the blonde was nowhere to be found.</p><p>"Has Ryota kun left already?" She asked knowingly.</p><p>Kasamatsu understood what she meant. She was his former manager after all and didn't doubt that she knew him too well.</p><p>"That idiot suddenly disappeared, but he'll definitely be back. He probably needed to cool down after crying for his first loss, after all." Hayakawa said, earning a smack from Kasamatsu.</p><p>The girl smiled knowingly, which surprised the group of boys for the second time. "I bet he didn't take the loss so well. I guess he needed that anyway, however. I'll just go look for him and tell him that you're all waiting. Thank you, senpai." She replies while bowing curtly to them before facing Seirin.</p><p>"Looks like you proved him wrong this time, Tetsuya kun."</p><p>The air was heavy for a moment between the Kaijo and Seirin team members, having realized by the former that the phantom sixth man and the girl were also formerly acquainted with each other.</p><p>Kuroko stared into Aimi's eyes. She was expecting to receive some coldness once again towards her, yet what he did was the complete opposite. For the first time since meeting again, he sincerely smiled at her.</p><p>"You think you could handle the rest, Takamoto san?" Kuroko asked knowingly.</p><p>Everyone seemed confused with the exchange, not understanding what it meant. The white haired girl understood it however.</p><p>"I guess I can't escape you guys after all, huh? I suppose you'll take care of the others as well?" She answers with the same cryptic aura hanging around.</p><p>The blue haired boy nods determinedly in response. "I'll be seeing you again, Takamoto san."</p><p>With that, Aimi bows towards Seirin and turns to Kise's current team mates.</p><p>"I'll make sure Kise comes back in time for your cool down, senpai." She informs the seniors from the team and leaves the gym.</p><p>"Ne, Kuroko kun. What were you two talking about?" Kagami asks. Clearly everyone in the gym was curious as well.</p><p>"It's just like I said. We'll be seeing her again in the near future." He answers simply.</p><p>No one still quite understood what it meant, but proceeded to bid farewell to the Kaijo team anyway. Seirin's coach was clearly beaming as the team thanked their opponents for the practice game. Kaijo's coach however was the complete opposite.</p><p>Once Seirin was out of sight, the coach continued to fume and scolded the team. "What was that, you bunch of brats?! I thought he was just the sixth man of their former group? Clearly we all underestimated that kid too much! Rest assured that the rest of Kise's former team mates are twice, if not thrice as a threat to us as much as they were!"</p><p>"Don't worry, coach!" Kasamatsu answered, finally realizing something. "We're going to have extra help soon enough to beat them, I'm pretty sure of it."</p><p>Looking for Kise wasn't that hard. Aimi found him at the back of the gym, but he wasn't alone however. To say she was surprised was an understatement. Standing before the blonde was his former teammate, the Generation of Miracles' number one shooter. She recognized Midorima immediately when he came to view.</p><p>"I regret to tell you that you should give up on your revenge." The tall green haired boy says to the blonde confidently.</p><p>"Still relying on Oha Asa, Shintaro kun?" She suddenly speaks, coming up from behind him.</p><p>Midorima was equally surprised just as she was earlier. He didn't expect to hear that voice once again. More importantly, he was also more surprised with the fact that she attended Kaijo.</p><p>"Takamoto san, I expected you would be at Rakuzan." He replies, quickly regaining his composure.</p><p>He didn't notice how the girl momentarily clenched her teeth at the implication. Just like Akashi, he thought highly of her. He was aware they had a fall out but he did not expect her to be this weak and cower only to end up attending a different school than she was originally expected to.</p><p>"I see you haven't changed, Shintaro kun. But then again I suppose that's a good thing, with the rest of them changing for the worst, you were the only one who remained the same." She deadpanned.</p><p>Unfazed, the green haired boy adjusts his glasses before responding. "Even though you've managed to act colder than you once were, I can see you haven't changed as well either no matter how hard you try to cover it Takamoto san."</p><p>"Now, now, Midorimacchi. You haven't seen Aicchi since Middle School either. Aren't you glad to see her again?" Kise butts in.</p><p>Midorima and Aimi just stared at one another in silence. The white haired girl was the first to break it however.</p><p>"It's nice to see you again, Shintaro kun. I'll be looking forward to seeing you again once the formal games begin, though I regret to say that this time we'll be on different sides of the court." She says.</p><p>Kise immediately understood what she meant by what she just said.</p><p>"Wait, does this mean you have finally decided already Aicchi?!" He asks, face lighting up eagerly waiting for a confirmation.</p><p>"Kasamatsu senpai and the others are looking for you Ryota kun. You better return to the gym immediately before you get your ass kicked again. I'll message you my training schedule. You could just give it to the coach afterwards." She replies then turns back to Midorima.</p><p>"You know better than to underestimate Tetsuya kun's way of thinking, Shintaro kun." She says warningly, but then finally gives him one of those old smiles they used to see from her. "It's a bit nice to indeed see you again, however. Well then, I'll be off for now."</p><p>As she walked away, the two boys were left watching her as she went back inside the gym.</p><p>"Akashi wouldn't like hearing you acting so close to her again, Kise. You know how menacing he could become." The green haired boy was the first to speak.</p><p>The blonde only shrugs in return. "I was always like this to everyone."</p><p>"And that's why he always didn't want you too close to her." Midorima sighed, clearly feeling hopeless for his former teammate.</p><p>"Eh, but Akashicchi and Aicchi clearly broke up, though? Besides, Aicchi has always been our friend. Wouldn't it be unfair to treat her as just another person?" Kise asked cluelessly.</p><p>"Just don't tell me I didn't warn you." Midorima says and suddenly he spots his team mate charging towards him in the bicycle cart they were riding to get there.</p><p>"I'm heading off. I just came to watch the game. Like I said, I won't be losing to Seirin. You better give up on your revenge as early as now."</p><p>With that, Midorima leaves Kise behind to ponder on his thoughts.</p>
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<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"It's a pleasure to meet you, everyone. I'm Aimi Takamoto from the volleyball club." Aimi bows curtly as she introduced herself to Kaijo's basketball team.</p><p>She had no training today, which is fortunate enough since she had time to properly watch the basketball club practice for the first time. It was the time of the month for all the clubs to rotate schedules once again, and upon looking at her schedule before sending them over to Kise, she realized that she would have an easier time to juggle both being a manager of the basketball team and maintain her position in the volleyball club seeing that for the rest of the season both clubs weren't in the same training schedule.</p><p>"Listen up, everyone!" the coach's voice boomed. "For those of you who already didn't know, Takamoto san over here was the former co-manager of the Generation of Miracles. Kise invited her to become manager for our team to help us on our way to the finals."</p><p>Murmurs from the rest of the boys erupted, clearly in awe and surprised with the information supplied to them.</p><p>"Yosh! We'll now have an even better chance to beat those other monsters!" Hayakawa explains, referring to Kise's old teammates.</p><p>"You better be thanking me, senpai! I was the one to finally be able to convince Aicchi to get involved back in basketball." Kise boasts cockily while puffing out his chest, proud of his achievement. It wasn't really easy after all to go and convince a personality such as Aimi.</p><p>"Well then, Takamoto san. Er... I hope you would take care of us." Kasamatsu, their team captain bows politely albeit still slightly stammering in the presence of a girl.</p><p>Looking at the rowdy bunch before her, it sure started to bring back old times. The boys in front of her were not as inhumanely strong as Kise or the other Miracles, but the presence of passion and determination in playing basketball was definitely a breathe of fresh air for her this time around. Still she couldn't bring herself to open up fully to them unlike with the former bunch she used to handle, not yet at least.</p><p>She manages to procure a reserved smile in response. "Shall we start on your training then?"</p><p>Kaijo High's first string basketball team may not have players as strong as the Generation of Miracles, but they're without a doubt a relatively strong team. She realized that their captain, Kasamatsu was a formidable opponent on the court. Wherever you place him, whether on the inside or the outside position, he would still keep on scoring points without a problem. Moriyama may not be like Midorima when it comes to shooting, but his unorthodox way of getting the ball in the hoop is definitely a strong weapon to use against their opponent.</p><p>Aimi continued to analyze the skills of the team, trying to device some techniques to be able to address their individual's weaknesses. Then there's Kise, whose improved and more refined skills didn't disappoint her expectations. After their game with Seirin, Kise seemed to learn to rely on his team a little more, something she didn't get to see anymore during the Generation of Miracle's latter years. He was still arrogant when it comes to his abilities, which was quite expected for a former member of an all-star team, yet he seemed to listen more to his senpai Kasamatsu. She knew based on the look in his eyes whenever he was focused in training that he definitely was pumped up to face Kuroko and Kagami again in a match.</p><p>"I've compiled a document containing the profiles of all the members from the team. They've been organized according to position and I've already listed upon my observation their strengths and weaknesses as well as the potential ones if they were to possibly be able to harness it." The white haired girl explained upon handing a clipboard to the basketball coach which actually surprised him.</p><p>"Hmm... I didn't realize Kobori had the potential to be able to do this." The coach says while reading the documents in his hand which made everyone curious.</p><p>Aimi smiled. She knew she was good at foreseeing possible potentials after all, especially those that couldn't be easily seen by the naked eye.</p><p>"I've also included my previous files of the other five I had from middle school. Of course, that however is already outdated. If I were to assume based on Kise's rapid improvement, we could expect the same if not even more from the others. I will have to make a new one with the best accurate forecast that I could muster." She continues in a business like manner.</p><p>"As always, Aicchi is pretty much on the top when it comes to these things. She was actually the first one to notice Kurokocchi's potential!" Kise exclaims.</p><p>"Hmm... So you were the one who recruited the phantom sixth man of the group?" Their coach asks curiously.</p><p>"I didn't. I just simply pointed him out to... their former captain. He was the one who did the rest." She answers curtly.</p><p>The man continues to stare at the girl curiously. He was however glad they had another strong asset joining the team this year.</p><p>"I see. Good work on this, Takamoto san. I don't believe there are anything lacking in this document even though it was made in a mere span of four hours." The coach concluded.</p><p>Aimi bowed in respect in return. "A former member of the Japanese National Team shouldn't expect anything less after all."</p><p>"You are surprisingly well-informed, Takamoto san." The man said, completely beginning to become amused with the girl.</p><p>"It comes with my job." She says, finally giving the man a sincere smile before heading to pick up the remaining forgotten balls in the ground.</p><p>While the basketball team is busy packing up in the locker room, they couldn't help but talk about the newest addition to their team.</p><p>"You know, Takamoto san is undeniably talented. I heard she's also currently the number one in their year when it comes to academics." A second year said.</p><p>"Not to mention, she's pretty as well! Most girls always have make up on their face, but her, she doesn't even seem to bother to wear anything yet she still looks angelic." Another sighs.</p><p>"Yo, Kise! Come to think of it, she probably has gotten a lot of admirers back in middle school right? I wouldn't be surprised if you actually had made a move on her once." Hayakawa says.</p><p>The blonde chuckles, having already expected that Aimi would be the subject of their conversation.</p><p>"She definitely had some admirers, but no one dared to make a move though. She was involved with Akashicchi back then after all." He explains nonchalantly.</p><p>Most of them froze upon hearing him.</p><p>"Akashi... As in the former captain of the Generation of Miracles?" Kasamatsu asked.</p><p>"Yup!" Kise shrugged, not really thinking that it was a big deal.</p><p>"Damn... She must be quite a chick to have captured such a man's attention." His captain could only answer in return.</p><p>"That must explain why you aren't dating. We really thought you were since we see you clinging to her all the time." Moriyama adds.</p><p>"Aicchi is pretty much a person who likes to keep to themselves. We were actually the only friends she has ever acknowledged back then. I never really actually thought of her like that, I guess." Kise answers simply.</p><p>"Of course, you wouldn't. With all the girls chasing you after all, huh?" Kasamatsu says pointedly in annoyance.</p><p>"Don't be bitter, senpai. I can't help it if it's in my genes." The blonde answers back airily which earns him another kick from the senior.</p><p>News spread fast of the Kaijo Basketball Team getting a manager. There was never such an open position before which is why the person who was offered the position became the envy of almost every girl in school.</p><p>"It's so unfair! I tried to apply once but their coach said they didn't need a manager on their team." A girl from Aimi's class complained.</p><p>"I heard she was Kise's former manager as well though. I guess they made an exception because of that." Another said.</p><p>Aimi tried to ignore the gossips all around her as much as possible, already tired from hearing them since morning.</p><p>Actually, Kise was actually starting to get tired of all the constant crowding of girls around him as well. He couldn't concentrate on studying much as he wanted to because there was always at least one girl every five minutes who tried to approach him whenever he was alone. He knew he needed to focus on his academics as well or else his teacher won't allow him to play basketball for the rest of the season if he failed an exam.</p><p>When lunch time came, he hurriedly rushed towards the library, hoping to find a spot where he could at least concentrate on the notes he borrowed from a classmate earlier. They had an upcoming test in English and he knew he couldn't fail this one.</p><p>To his luck, he spotted the familiar white hair seated by a corner behind some bookshelves.</p><p>"Aicchi! I need help!" He exclaimed.</p><p>Aimi glanced at the blonde who just seated beside her, noticing that he had in his hands what looked like some notes. Judging from his desperate look, she already got the gist of the situation.</p><p>"Are you failing your tests again, Ryota kun?" She asked, eyes still on the book she was reading.</p><p>"Please, Aicchi! Our test is this Friday! Kise continued to plead.</p><p>It would have been a lot bothersome to agree to teach him, to be honest. But then she remembered something and suddenly she found it as an opportunity to have one of her ongoing problems solved.</p><p>"Fine, I'll help you pass your exam." She said as she closed her book.</p><p>Kise was gleeful for a moment, but the second he thought that he got Aimi to agree to teach him rather easily the girl beside him suddenly dropped the bomb.</p><p>"But now you owe me, and I have just the perfect payment for it." She said, smiling threateningly.</p><p>The blonde gulped. He just knew that Aimi never agreed to do something easily without at least an equal payment in return.</p><p>"Geez, Aicchi. If you wanted an autograph, all you had to do was ask." He answered jokingly to mask his nervousness.</p><p>That seemed to not sit well with the white haired girl however for she just blinked at him a few times before starting to pack her stuff.</p><p>"Have it your way then. I guess a lot of girls would fall in line just to tutor you after all. However I would have to wonder if you'd get to learn something at all or instead spend the rest of your time having someone make googoo eyes with you." She threatened.</p><p>The blonde immediately regrets what he said, stopping Aimi from leaving in the process.</p><p>"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'm serious Aicchi. Please teach me so I could pass my English exam this Friday. In return, I'll do anything you ask!" He asked with every hint of sincerity he could muster.</p><p>Aimi did her best to suppress a chuckle at the desperate boy before her. It was after all a very rare occurrence having someone from the Generation of Miracles showing some desperation.</p><p>"Okay, since you're desperate enough to ask for help I'll make an exception this time." She finally says.</p><p>"Great! Shall we go to your place or mine?" He asks, feeling a bit victorious.</p><p>She has never been to either of the guys' places back in middle school except for Akashi's. Even though she never felt any ounce of attraction for Kise, she didn't really want to get too close to anyone anymore to that personal extent.</p><p>"My place is fine. My mom's not going to be home tonight 'cause she has a couple of surgeries to attend to again so it's just me." She answers quickly.</p><p>"Alright, fine by me. By the way Aicchi, how am I supposedly going to pay for you teaching me?" The blonde asks, hopefully wanting to know what it is as early as possible in case it's something he should have to mentally prepare for. Aimi could be a scary person after all.</p><p>It took a couple of seconds however before the white haired girl beside him decided to answer back. His worry now replaced with curiosity, seeing how Aimi hesitated before she finally decided to speak up.</p><p>"My father's gonna be in town this weekend, and he wants me to attend this social gathering of his with all his business peers. I'm kinda obligated to bring someone with me, like an escort." She said, still hesitating.</p><p>It was Kise's turn to blink a couple of times and stare. He and the rest of the guys knew Aimi had a rich family from her father's side, seeing that her parents had separated. It was obvious that she was still expected to live the life of the luxurious and had to fulfill some obligations as an heir to the family business. He guessed that was also probably one of the reasons Akashi and her got along since they had both been living in a similar situation. It must have been hard for her to look for someone to come with her, knowing that she really was not the type to have a lot of friends to ask out for a favor.</p><p>"Aicchi... Are you asking me out on a date?!" Kise exclaimed, finally being able to breathe when he realized that her request to accompany her to a party was relatively easier than the many scenarios he'd been dreading in his mind. He honestly expected her to make him do something embarrassing in front of a school crowd or something.</p><p>The girl glared at him, much to her annoyance.</p><p>"Don't push it, Ryota kun. Remember that the fate of your English exam rests entirely on me." She told him, ice cold laced in her voice.</p><p>The blonde straightened up and kept his mouth shut. "Hai! I'm stopping now."</p><p>Aimi's place was actually too big for just two people to live in. It may not have been a mansion compared to her father's in Kyoto, but the penthouse she had with her mom was as luxurious as it could get. Her mom actually also came from a rich family, but she chose the career she loved the most over having to run their own family business as well.</p><p>Kise was amazed with the number of high-tech appliances in the girl's house. It was impressive that she kept her status low key to the public. She was a quiet girl after all and didn't really like to boast about herself.</p><p>"Is that the newest Playstation?! But that's not even out in the market yet!" Kise gaped at the shiny black box by their flatscreen TV.</p><p>The girl followed the boy's line of sight over to their entertainment section of the room.</p><p>"My father sent that over to me a couple of weeks ago. He's friends with the manufacturer of Sony. If you behave enough to let us finish early, I'd let you have a go with it. I haven't tested it out yet however." She says.</p><p>Obviously wanting to have a go on the new console, he immediately became more motivated to get on with studying.</p><p>"We'd better start already then, Aicchi! Chop chop!" He says immediately.</p><p>Aimi couldn't help but be amused on how simple minded the boy could be, but shrugged anyway and led them to her room to where her study table is.</p><p>Kise took a look around at all the medals and trophies the girl had back in middle school. It was not surprising at all that the wall is overloaded with the achievements she attained. Suddenly he spotted a familiar item placed by the corner of her shelf. It was a picture of all of them from middle school: his five former teammates, Momoi and her and all of them were smiling while holding popsicles after class.</p><p>"Man, I remember this! Murasakibaracchi always hogged all the popsicles from that store whenever we came there! I've always wondered how he didn't get cavities from all the sweets he could possible eat. Ne, Aicchi, how come you have a copy of this?" He exclaimed while reminiscing the old times.</p><p>The white haired girl was actually embarrassed that Kise found out she had that picture still with her. Although even if everyone had a fall-out, she just couldn't bring herself to keep it away and store it in a box, just like how she figuratively did with all her past memories with the group. She was relieved though that the blonde didn't seem to mind and never thought of it that way. In fact, he was slightly amused with the photo in his hands.</p><p>"Momoi san gave it to me before school ended." She simply answered, remembering the lively co-manager who had a deep crush on Kuroko.</p><p>"Take it, Ai chan. I know that we may all haven't been making good memories in the last year, but at least keep it as a reminder of all the happy memories we all had together. I'll always still be your friend after all."</p><p>Aimi didn't really wanted to keep a reminder from her past with them for the fear of remembering the painful memories as well. However, she couldn't bring it to herself to not accept the photo. No one will ever know when an occurrence like this could ever happen again.</p><p>"Let me see your notes, Ryota kun." She said, hoping to change the subject.</p><p>As she set up her own materials, the blonde handed over the same notes he was holding earlier. It seemed to belong to a girl from his class, judging from the name on the cover of the notebook and the girly handwriting that took place.</p><p>Rolling her eyes while scanning through the pages, she tried to assess and read the lesson they were currently in. It wasn't really far from theirs. In fact, they just finished having a test for the topic last Monday.</p><p>"Right. These notes are a bit incomplete. Seriously, I don't know how you've managed to borrow something without even checking if you've got everything you needed to know. Moreover, I can't really fathom why the girl you successfully managed to get this from agreed to lend you her only life source for the exam when you've only got one day left to prepare for it." She says while sighing.</p><p>"Heh, she kinda offered it to me when I was looking for someone to copy notes from so I just accepted it." Kise replies a bit embarrassed.</p><p>"Well then, since there isn't really anything I could use here, we're going to have to use mine." She answers, feeling hopeless for the blonde as they began their study session.</p><p>Kise was surprisingly a fast learner. She supposed he could apply his abilities to academics after all if only he put his mind into it. It didn't take long for them to finish the lesson afterwards.</p><p>"So... A noun usually refers to an object, while a verb uses words that show action, and an adjective mainly refers to a word that describes something?" The blonde says after finally getting the hang of the lesson.</p><p>"Correct. If you remember that, the exam would just be a breeze for you." Aimi replies, relieved that he finally already seems to understand everything he needed to know.</p><p>"Alright! I guess I'm already confident enough to get at least a passing grade for this!" He says happily.</p><p>"You should be. I didn't take my time to teach you only for you to fail." Aimi responds while looking at the time. It was already 8pm.</p><p>"Since you've behaved enough, I suppose you could go try the playstation out already. I'm going to order take out." She added as she stood up and led them to the living room.</p><p>"Woohoo! Thanks Aicchi!" The blonde sang cheerfully, clearly eager to play some games.</p><p>It wasn't a question why Kise had chosen to play a basketball game. He was however currently having trouble with the controls.</p><p>"What?! I was trying to do a pick and roll! Damn, I could have done it with my eyes closed if this were real basketball!" He grumbles while munching away from the the takeout that arrived a couple of minutes ago.</p><p>"You can't win all the time in everything, Ryota kun." The white haired girl says triumphantly upon successfully stealing the ball from one of his players on the screen.</p><p>"You're surprisingly good at this. Did you and Akashicchi used to play video games as well?" He asked innocently.</p><p>She could tell that it was an earnest question and not one of his usual teasing ones to get on her nerves.</p><p>"...No. It was not actually his thing. He'd rather enjoy playing shogi." She mumbled.</p><p>Kise realized that the question made her uncomfortable so he tried to lighten up the mood.</p><p>"Is that so? Well, who knew Akashicchi could be that boring?" He answers nonchalantly.</p><p>His comment had earned a laugh from the girl, much to his surprise. It has been quite a while since he last heard her laugh genuinely.</p><p>"I guess you could say that. Anyway, we need to pack up, we still got school tomorrow." She answers after a while and the two teens started to clean up.</p><p>"Thanks again, Aicchi. You're a lifesaver. I'll let you know how the exam goes after!" Kise says as he waved goodbye.</p><p>As the blonde left, Aimi finally got to rest in her room. She supposed that reuniting with Kise and the other two as well were not entirely a bad thing. Maybe not all of them changed entirely for the worst after all, she thought.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aimi concentrated on the practice match she currently had with the volleyball team. Their coach apparently managed to invite Shutoku to their school for a friendly game. As she tossed the ball perfectly to the height their spiker was most confident hitting, her teammate was able to successfully smash it to the other team's net, making the opposing side struggle with receiving it.</p><p>In the end, Kaijo won the practice match.</p><p>"Ne, Takamoto san. We look forward to having a match with you again. Next time, we'll definitely beat you." A member from Shutoku called out to her.</p><p>Clearly they had a hard time with the match. They were surprised that Aimi was a powerful spiker, having expected her to be the setter of the team. It didn't do well for them however even if she only stuck with the setter role, for she seemed to be a genius at it as she managed to manipulate the team's play by her perfect tosses to each individual.</p><p>"Aimi chan's our ace! You better get ready during the interhigh, we won't go easy on you guys by then either!" Yui says proudly.</p><p>"Hush, Yui! What did I tell you about boasting around?" Rina scolds her teammate and bows to the other team. "It was a pleasure to have a great match with you. We're looking forward to play with you again in the Interhigh."</p><p>Just then, the gym suddenly felt overcrowded and noisy. As everyone looked around for the source of disturbance, they saw a crowd of girls starting to fill a section of the bleachers.</p><p>"Huh, I guess the volleyball team is quite famous in your school, Matsumoto san." Shutoku's captain says to their own captain.</p><p>"Well, we are well known in the campus, but I don't think that's the reason these girls are here though." Rina responds, spotting the reason why they have a lot of visitors this afternoon.</p><p>In the middle of all the commotion, Kise seemed to appear with an apologizing reaction.</p><p>"Hehe, I'm sorry senpai! I didn't expect them to find me so easily..." He chuckles while trying to think of a way to get out of the situation.</p><p>"Alright, alright! Show's over now! We're having a training session over here and we do not appreciate any disturbance!" Yui claps to call the audience's attention and successfully shoos them away.</p><p>Groans filled the gym but the students reluctantly obeyed anyway, not wanting to be scolded by the teacher.</p><p>"My, my. What a handsome boy! I didn't know Kaijo had a model in their midst." Shutoku's captain comments.</p><p>"He's actually from the basketball team. But yeah, he's a model alright. And I think I have an idea exactly why he's come to grace the volleyball club with his presence." Rina says, a bit annoyed by the commotion of the girls while glancing over to their white haired teammate.</p><p>Aimi pinches the bridge of her nose in irritation. Why did he have to create a scene here of all places?</p><p>"I'm sorry senpai. I'll handle this." She says curtly while she approaches the blonde, earning whispers once again from the other people left in the gym.</p><p>"What are you doing here, Ryota kun?" She asks, clearly not happy that she has to deal with another round of gossip.</p><p>The blonde smiles gleefully at her while jumping from the bleachers to approach the white haired girl.</p><p>"I came to watch you of course, Aicchi! I heard you had a practice match today with Midorimacchi's school." He answers back happily.</p><p>Surely that wasn't entirely the reason he came all the way here, she thought.</p><p>"So how was your exam?" She asks the blonde. Having figured out that he wanted to share some news.</p><p>The blonde grins even more widely upon her asking the question.</p><p>"I think I did well for once! I'm pretty confident I'd get more than a passing grade this time." He exclaims gleefully.</p><p>Aimi was at least relieved with that piece of news.</p><p>"Congratulations are in order then. I'm glad I was able to help you." She says.</p><p>"Yeah, thanks again Aicchi! By the way, what time shall we be leaving for tomorrow? Will I be picking you up or are you gonna have a means of transportation going there?" Kise inquires.</p><p>"Uhm, my dad is kinda sending a limo over..." She answers shyly, not really wanting to disclose such things where someone could hear.</p><p>"Alright then! I guess I'll head over to your place by six?" He asks.</p><p>"Yes. The driver would probably arrive by 6:30. Oh and wear something formal okay?" She whispers, aware that her teammates are trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.</p><p>"You got it, Aicchi! That won't be much of a problem. Well, I'd better head off now before I'd accidentally bring some people around again." He says sheepishly.</p><p>Aimi grins. "I'll see you tomorrow then, Ryota kun." She says as she waved at the blonde, her back turned to him as she went back to her teammates.</p><p>"Ne, Aimi chan, what did Kise kun want?" Her teammate asks, obviously wanted to gather some of the latest gossip.</p><p>"It's none of your business, Yui san. Besides, it was just some basketball stuff." Aimi dismisses.</p><p>"You're really no fun, Aicchi! But oh well, that can't be helped. Kise kun's such a basketball junkie after all. Ne, could there be a possible opening spot for a co-manager?" Yui pouted expectingly.</p><p>Aimi rolled her eyes at the girl.</p><p>"It's not for me to decide about that, Yui san. We still have some training left to do, so why don't you focus on that?" She answers.</p><p>The short haired girl grumbled but still followed her teammates suggestion nevertheless.</p><p>Aimi was busy preparing for the social gathering that night. As much as she didn't want to put on make up, she had no choice but to do so or else her father would scold her for being so unprepared for such an event. As soon as she was done with her hair, the buzzer suddenly rang.</p><p>"Aimi! That must be your friend by the door!" Her mother calls out from the other room.</p><p>"I'll get it!" She answers back while glancing at the clock. It was 6pm sharp. She figured the boy had a habit of being on time after all.</p><p>As she opened the door, she saw Kise grinning by the entrance sporting a black formal suit.</p><p>"Hey Aicchi!" He greeted.</p><p>"I guess you clean up well, as expected for a model." Aimi observes while crossing her arms to look at the blonde from head to toe.</p><p>"I wasn't in the modeling industry for a long time just for nothing, you know." Kise answers confidently as he observes the girl before her.</p><p>"You clean up nicely as well, Aicchi! Ne, are you actually wearing make up this time?!" He adds</p><p>The girl flushes at his observation and grumbles. "Shut up. Just come in already, the driver will be here any minute."</p><p>Aimi opens the door wider to let the boy come in just as her mother came to join them.</p><p>"My, my! Is this Ryota Kise, Aimi? He's one of your friends back in middle school as well am I correct?" Her mother says as she comes to greet their visitor.</p><p>"It's a pleasure to meet you, Takamoto san. Yes I was Aicchi's schoolmate back in middle school as well!" He greets the older woman warmly.</p><p>"Ah, yes! I thought I'd recognize you from the photo she had in her room. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Kise kun. I've only met young Akashi back then, so I was definitely curious when I found out that at least an old friend of hers was studying in the same school as hers at present!" Her mother says while gesturing him to have a seat.</p><p>"Ah, well... I was actually also surprised to find Aicchi in the same school at first to be honest." Kise answers back politely while taking a seat.</p><p>"Well, this daughter of mine can be quite unpredictable at times. But nevertheless, I'm still glad she has an old friend to accompany her at a new place. You probably know how our Aimi is with people after all." The woman says with a wink.</p><p>"Mom! Aren't you currently finishing your medical reports?" Aimi says, wanting to save herself from further embarrassment.</p><p>Kise chuckles at the exchange, never really expecting her mother to be this friendly towards her daughter's visitors.</p><p>"Well, she kinda did me a favor after all, so I'm glad to return it by accompanying her tonight." The blonde says.</p><p>The woman smiles, clearly growing fond with the boy.</p><p>"Alright then, I'd better get back to my work. Thank you for agreeing to come with Aimi tonight. I hope you kids enjoy, although Aimi knows how boring those social gatherings can actually get to be honest." The girl's mother whispers the last part as she heads back to her room.</p><p>Just then, Aimi receives a message on her phone.</p><p>"I guess it's time to go now. Are you ready?" She asks kise as she grabs her purse.</p><p>The blonde nods and stands up as well, playfully offering his left arm to the girl.</p><p>"Shall we, my lady?" He gestures.</p><p>She smirks as she grabs the boy's arm while they head down to the lobby of the building.</p><p>As soon as they arrived, Aimi spotted her father immediately while he was talking to a couple of businessmen.</p><p>"Ah, Aimi, my dear daughter. I see you have finally arrived. And who might this dashing young fellow be?" His father says, although she was quite sure he already recognized the blonde as soon as they entered the hall.</p><p>Being a gentleman, Kise bowed respectfully to the man in front of him. He knew that Aimi's father cared mostly about having a good image so he did his best not to disappoint.</p><p>"Good evening, Takamoto san. It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Aimi's friend, Ryota Kise." He introduced formally.</p><p>"Kise? Have I seen you somewhere? You're not that famous teen model, perhaps?" The man asked, feigning a surprise.</p><p>The blonde knew that the man was just playing along with formalities so he decided to go along with it.</p><p>"I'm honored that you recognize me, sir. Although I don't think I'm quite famous as you say I am." He says, chuckling a bit.</p><p>The man laughs at the response.</p><p>"I see my daughter has chosen well. Come and let me introduce you to my peers." He gestured to the men he was talking to.</p><p>"Gentlemen, I'd like to introduce you to my daughter and her escort for tonight." The man continued.</p><p>As soon as countless of introductions were done, the two teenagers were finally free to roam around and relax for themselves.</p><p>"Finally! I thought it would never end. All this business talk is driving me crazy." Aimi whines as they step out to the garden for a breather.</p><p>Kise laughs at the girl's exhausted state. So this was what it was like to be a child of a business tycoon.</p><p>"Everyone here sure are big time people Aicchi. All they seem to talk about are business and politics. No wonder you seemed to dislike attending these sort of things." He says.</p><p>"Well, it's not like I have any choice however. It's a condition I agreed upon in exchange for staying with my mom instead of coming over to Kyoto to stay with him." She answers truthfully.</p><p>The blonde raises an eyebrow at the revelation.</p><p>"Surely it couldn't be that bad?" He asks.</p><p>"Eh, I have my reasons." She merely shrugs.</p><p>As they continued to stroll across the courtyard, the pair suddenly came across someone. Thinking it was just some other attendee probably there to get some fresh air, she continued to walk forward. It wasn't until they've gotten a full view of the said person ahead was when she abruptly stopped in her tracks, causing Kise to bump over her.</p><p>"Ouch, that kinda hurt Aicchi! Why did you suddenly stop anyway?" Kise groans as he looked up ahead, immediately startled as she was.</p><p>"Akashicchi?!" He exclaimed, obviously surprised to see their former captain standing before them.</p><p>The red haired emperor stood calmly before them, his face expressionless. He still had the same cold and ruthless aura he had in him as Aimi observed. But why now? She definitely had no idea he would be here in this place.</p><p>"Sei- Akashi kun. I didn't expect to see you here." She greeted the boy formally as soon as she found her tongue.</p><p>Kise felt the aura become tense, that is, for the girl beside him at least. Trying to lighten up the mood, he greeted his former captain as well.</p><p>"Akashicchi! It's a surprise that you're here in this side of town. I figured we won't be able to meet until the Winter Cup, but I guess it's fortunate that we'd get an early reunion right? Ne, did you know the Aicchi's attending Kaijo as well?" The blonde says in his usual cheerful manner.</p><p>Akashi ignored him, however. Instead, he continued to stare at the girl in front of him.</p><p>"Aimi. You still look the same as the last time we saw each other. You also have matured as well, if not for a little bit." He declares.</p><p>Aimi was at a loss for words. She wanted to run as far away as possible right then and there if not for the blonde beside her. She definitely wasn't ready to face him just yet. She didn't think she was even ready to face him again at all ever.</p><p>But she refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing her cower before him. The last thing she wanted was to make him think that he still had a strong effect on her.</p><p>"I see you brought Ryota with you." He then adds, finally acknowledging the blonde.</p><p>Without really thinking thoroughly, the white haired girl suddenly grabs Kise's hand and links her fingers with his. If the blonde was ever surprised with the action, he didn't really show it.</p><p>"Of course. Ryota's quite the gentleman here. I've realized that he's actually my type of guy once we have gotten more closer and get to know each other even better." She says confidently, praying that he wouldn't notice her bluff.</p><p>But this was Seijuro Akashi after all. Even before his personality changed, he already had a keen eye for seeing through people, especially lies. Still, the girl hoped he wouldn't see past her and silently pleaded that the blonde would just play along as well.</p><p>Kise and the others knew very well that the two before him had a major fall out before they graduated from middle school. He knew how the girl beside him cared for his former captain very much. Even when he changed personalities and awaken the other Akashi inside him, the girl still chose to stick with the boy, hopeful that the old one was still inside there somewhere. Whatever Akashi has done or said to her, not one of them knew. What they know is, however, that it must have been cruel enough for a strong person like her to practically cry her heart out to Momoi that day.</p><p>Not that they will actually tell her that they clearly heard the pain through her sobs inside the empty gym when she thought that no one remained for anyone to see nor hear except for her and the pink haired girl.</p><p>Her hands were cold and actually getting a bit sweaty, he realized. Even though she was doing a very excellent job in masking her emotions at present, the strong grip from her fingers were saying otherwise. Feeling compelled to help her out, he decided to play along with the situation even though it would mean getting in this mess that would probably be hard to get out of or worse, risking the wrath of the red haired emperor before him.</p><p>Before he could even change his mind, he grabbed the girl's waist and moved her closer to him.</p><p>"Well, we all know Aicchi's a special girl. I guess we just clicked when we got to know more about each other. There's isn't any problem, is there, Akashicchi?" He says as he tries to act as normally as possible.</p><p>Aimi was startled when Kise suddenly grabbed her close to him. She didn't really expect him to ride along, but still she was thankful that he did. That gave her a chance to momentarily recollect herself.</p><p>It was pretty hard to tell what Akashi was thinking, still remaining silent as he stood before them not the least bit fazed at all.</p><p>"My feet are getting tired. Perhaps we should already head back, Ryota." She says, finally regaining her composure as she faced the red haired boy one more time.</p><p>"I guess we'll be seeing you another time, Akashi kun. During the Winter Cup, perhaps? Well, we'll be heading back now." Aimi added.</p><p>"I'd like to have a word with Ryota for a moment, if you will. After all, I would very much like to catch up with my former teammate." Akashi finally says just as the girl was about to drag herself and Kise out of there.</p><p>Aimi did a quick glance at the blonde for a moment, giving him an apologizing look for getting caught up in between and at the same time pleading to never give away whatever role play they have managed to orchestrate so far.</p><p>"Fine." She replies, eyes still on the blonde. "I'll be waiting for you inside. Now, if you'll excuse me."</p><p>She bows curtly to Akashi, showing an air of indifference before heading off.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aimi should have expected that there would be a huge chance that Akashi would attend the same party tonight. Their families were in the same business world after all. She mentally smacked herself for not realizing it any sooner. How could she have been so stupid to miss that?</p><p>Pacing herself in the empty corridor, she waited anxiously for the blonde trying to avoid thinking of possible dreaded scenarios that could be happening at the moment as the two boys she left outside were 'catching up' with each other, so to speak.</p><p>Back at the courtyard, Kise and Akashi stood face to face and not saying a word. Both seemed to be gauging each other's motives as they continued to stare at one another in silence. Finally, it was the red head who began to speak up first.</p><p>"What are you planning to accomplish with this charade of yours, Ryota? He asked, face still void of emotion.</p><p>Kise expected nothing less from his former captain. Akashi Seijuro wasn't an easy one to fool after all.</p><p>"I don't have the slightest clue on what you mean, Akashicchi. I'm not pretending on anything." He answers back smiling.</p><p>"I've always warned you to maintain a reasonable distance from Aimi." Akashi stated simply as he stepped forward tauntingly.</p><p>"Tell me. Did she not really coax you into making me think that she has finally moved on from me?" The red head demands, his tone still low and unwavering.</p><p>"Ne, Akashicchi. I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't make assumptions. After all, whatever relationship we have has nothing to do with you anymore right?" Kise replies.</p><p>The blonde braced himself. Everyone who knew Akashi knows that he doesn't like people defying him. The red head took another step forward, and another one, then walked past Kise without so much as a back glance.</p><p>"Remember Ryota: I am never wrong. I will forgive your act of defiance this time, but I will not be showing any mercy when we meet again at the court in the Winter Cup." Akashi says in a threatening voice and with that he walks away.</p><p>Aimi was sitting on one of the lobby's couches when Kise finally emerged inside. She grew tired of pacing not long after which is why she decided to wait for the blonde there instead. The boy came in striding with his usual carefree manner and impatient as she was getting, she stood up to approach him.</p><p>"Well?" She crossed her arms, clearly growing more impatient as Kise did not say a word.</p><p>After a few seconds, he grinned cheekily at the girl glaring before him.</p><p>"You owe me a lot this time, Aicchi." He says.</p><p>Feeling a breath of relief, Aimi heaved out a sigh.</p><p>"Well, let me inform my father that we'll be leaving. There's nothing important for us to do here anyway. Thank you... Ryota kun." She tells him sincerely.</p><p>On the way home, Kise couldn't resist not asking again.</p><p>"Aichhi... What really did happen between you and Akashicchi?" He asked, turning to the girl who had been silently staring out of the vehicle's window for a while now.</p><p>Aimi knew that at one point she would have to open this up to somebody other than Momoi. After what had transpired earlier, she felt that Kise now had a right to know anyway.</p><p>"He had someone else." She answered simply, eyes fixated on the buildings around.</p><p>"Eh... But that doesn't sound like Akashicchi." The blonde replies, trying to be careful with his words.</p><p>The girl shrugs and turns to face him. "What, because that sounds more like you, does it?"</p><p>"Tut, tut, is that any way to treat someone who just saved your ass from my former captain? Plus, I don't play with girls. In fact, they're the ones who keep on spreading rumors about me dating them." Kise declares which earned him an eye-roll from Aimi.</p><p>"After your game with Tetsuya kun's friend back then, I got into a fight with him. I was mad that you guys did such a thing and he was the one who orchestrated it." She says as the blonde continued to listen attentively.</p><p>"I still refused to believe that the other Seijuro was entirely gone. I still hoped to wake him up in there. I was desperate... But then he told me that I had been relying too much on my emotions and that was a weakness. He said I was weak, and that I was just going to be a hindrance to him."</p><p>Aimi turned her face back to the window again, not wanting someone to see the pain in her expression as she continued.</p><p>"The next school day, he called me into the gym. You guys had no training scheduled, so I figured he wanted to finally talk about what happened and realized his mistake. That was a bit too good to be true, though." She chuckles. "When I got there, there was somebody else with him. It was a girl from his class, I think. They were... too close, so to speak."</p><p>Kise was a bit stunned by the revelation. He wanted to ask more, but he figured that it must have been painful enough for Aimi to relive those memories by just telling him. Akashi had been Aimi's first love.</p><p>As the limousine drove up to their stop, he decided that he wouldn't press anything more for now.</p><p>"Man, talking to all those grown ups was tiring. What do you say we stop by the convenience store to grab a snack before heading home?" He tells the girl to lighten up the mood.</p><p>She smiles knowingly, thankful that she didn't need to further speak about the past. "Since you agreed to accompany me tonight, your popsicle's on me."</p><p>School resumed the next week as usual. Aimi had been busy in her desk all day compiling all the documents she managed to collect containing information of all the potential players from schools the basketball team were likely to compete against.</p><p>"Aimi chan, we're having lunch outside. The weather's nice today, why don't you join us?" Yui says as she approached the white haired girl.</p><p>Aimi actually felt tired today and she figured it wouldn't be so bad to come with them. Besides, she has already turned Yui down every time the girl invited her. Maybe it was about time to try and mingle with other people already.</p><p>"Okay, give me a sec." Aimi answers while she puts away all the papers that were starting to pile up on her table. She grabbed her lunch and joined the girls with Yui obviously beaming that she finally got her friend to agree.</p><p>The hallway seemed a bit busy than usual. It was a bit hard to navigate through the crowd as Aimi made her way with the others towards the school courtyard.</p><p>As they passed one of the rooms, there were a bunch of girls who seemed to be crowding the entrance and in front of the door stood Kise who was trying to get out.</p><p>The blonde was truthfully starting to get tired with having to constantly deal with his fangirls. He just wanted to grab some lunch today in peace but it seemed that these girls were getting more and more relentless. Thank goodness they were only allowed up on the bleachers during basketball practice or else he would have probably lived a life of constantly running and hiding away from them.</p><p>He decided that he needed to think of a way for them to maintain a safe distance from him, enough for him to be able to keep some decent privacy to himself.</p><p>Suddenly, he saw Aimi walk ahead. For once, she had some companions with her that actually surprised him a bit. He supposed that she was finally starting to learn to open up and socialize with people from school. Aimi had always kept a cold and aloof personality which actually did a good job of making people bothering her less. He was only one of the few after all who was used to her cold glares and whom she didn't ignore completely when talking to her.</p><p>It was then that he had a sudden brilliant idea. He knew she would definitely kill him for this, but he figured that she owed him this anyway.</p><p>"Aicchi! There you are!" He called out cheerfully, excusing his way through the crowd as he approached the white haired girl.</p><p>Aimi looked at the boy approaching her. He seemed to be confidently smiling while walking towards where she was and the glint on his eyes told her he was up to something she definitely won't be happy about.</p><p>"What is it, Ryota kun?" She deadpans.</p><p>The girls who stood by the door grew quiet, whispering to each other with some asking who she was.</p><p>Kise beams widely at her and grabs her hand, linking his fingers the same way she did to him a few days ago at her father's party.</p><p>"Why, I'm here to see my girlfriend of course!" He announces loudly without batting an eye.</p><p>"G-girlfriend?!" Some random girl from behind them exclaims and murmurs soon erupted throughout the area.</p><p>Before Aimi could react from what has momentarily left her speechless, the blonde pulled her quickly away from the onlookers and called out to Yui and the others who were left behind.</p><p>"Yui san! You guys go on ahead, Aicchi will join you in a bit!" He says waving to her teammate who was equally as surprised as all the other girls there.</p><p>The blonde led them to the building's rooftop where no one was within earshot.</p><p>"Kise Ryota. You better explain. Now." The white haired girl's voice was threatening. Upon reaching their destination, Kise immediately placed a good distance between them for good measure while still grinning sheepishly.</p><p>"I'm sorry Aicchi! Those girls are starting to become a bother!" He tries to explain with hands up in the air signaling a surrender.</p><p>"So you thought of passing that burden to me?!" She growls. Aimi did not even bother to hide her anger anymore.</p><p>"I would never! Besides, you still owe me one from last time remember?" Kise tells her.</p><p>She pinches the bridge of her nose again but this time around even harder. She was frustrated at the blonde for coming up with such an idea but even more frustrated at herself for having to owe him one. What she asked of him wasn't an easy one after all. But this— this was different, she thought. She had to deal with this on a daily basis for god knows till when.</p><p>Kise sees her starting to lessen her fury and tries to convince her further.</p><p>"Think of it this way, Aicchi." He says, walking back towards her cautiously. "Akashicchi knows almost everything. It wouldn't be a surprise if by now had I not declared what I said in front of our school mates that he would have figured that our entire act back then was just a lie. It wasn't easy enough to convince someone like him, you know."</p><p>He sees he has the girl's full attention by now as she silently crossed her arms giving him a look that tells him to continue and convince her more or else.</p><p>"We all know gossip spreads fast. If we make people here in school believe that we're together, then word would definitely spread about it. You get to prove yourself to him and there's no way he could still accuse it for not being true because we have lots of witnesses!" He explains.</p><p>Aimi still remains silent with her cold hard stare.</p><p>"It's a win-win situation see," Kise continues to persuade. "Less girls would come after me since I'm already technically taken, plus you get to convince Akashicchi that our little acting last time wasn't fake!"</p><p>"But it is fake!" She hissed, then releases out a deep sigh afterwards. She got the point but she wasn't happy about it either. Still, Kise helped her and the last thing she wanted was for Akashi to find out that she was still affected by him.</p><p>"But they don't know that.~" Kise hums. "All we have to do is act like a couple when we're in public and people will get the gist of it. Come on, Aicchi... Pretty please?"</p><p>There wasn't anything to lose anyway.</p><p>"...Whatever." She mumbles. "But the moment someone finds out about this, we're ending this ridiculous act."</p><p>"Deal!" Kise beams widely. Finally, he wouldn't have to deal anymore with girls constantly holding him up all the time. Aimi didn't see him like most of the girls in their year did which definitely made her perfect for the role. Since they've known each other since middle school and were in fact friends, he figured there wouldn't be any problem with awkwardness either. Plus, she obviously still had even the smallest bit of feelings left for Akashi and he was too focused on basketball to even bother being in a real relationship.</p><p>"Well then, I'll see you at practice later Aicchi!~ Thanks again!" He waves as he left to finally be able to have lunch in peace.</p><p>Aimi found Yui and her other classmates seated under a tree y the courtyard. They all went silent as she took her seat. She ignored the stares of the girls and proceeded to open her bento when one of them finally says something.</p><p>"Uhm, so Takamoto san... It's really true that you and Kise kun are going out huh?" The girl named Tachibana Reika asks.</p><p>Before she could answer back, her loud, short haired team mate slapped her in the back gleefully.</p><p>"I knew there was something going on between you two! Ne, Aimi chan, you don't have to deny it anymore now that it's all out— oh, hehe, I hit you too hard didn't I?" Yui says upon seeing her team mate almost choke with the food in her mouth.</p><p>"Please don't repeat that again, Yui san." Aimi glowers.</p><p>"I-I'm sorry!" The short haired girl answers sincerely. "But boy, you're sure one lucky girl to date Kise kun! Come to think of it, he's lucky to have you as well of course... You're pretty, intelligent and a pretty strong athlete too! If only you'd act a bit more friendly— n-nevermind!"</p><p>Aimi gives her an even more death stare before taking another bite from her lunch.</p><p>"I'm sure Takamoto san gets a lot of attention from the boys too." Mikoto Miu, the other girl with them says smiling. "It's nice of you to join us for lunch, Takamoto san. Yui likes to tell us all about you and how you're great at volleyball. We didn't expect you to catch up though... We thought you're gonna end up having lunch with Kise kun."</p><p>Trying to act normally, she shrugs nonchalantly. "I guess I'm just not the clingy type. Ryota kun has friends of his own as well plus he's got to focus on his basketball training as well as my own."</p><p>"Oh... Come to think of it, you're also the new manager of the basketball club right? And you're in the school's volleyball team. Wow, it's pretty amazing that you're able to handle such amount of extracurricular activities and at the same time maintain the highest grades in our year!" Reika exclaims.</p><p>"Uh... Well, it's nothing much, really. I just do what I can." Aimi says while massaging the back of her neck. It was quite new for her that there were girls who were talking to her without any hint of malice. Back then in Teiko, she always heard someone whisper harsh words about her behind her back. They called her a snob, or someone who acts so high and mighty just because she was in a different level than most of them. Some were also jealous of her for dating Akashi back then</p><p>It wasn't that she was that unfriendly. She just has trouble trying to communicate with others with her real feelings. Growing up, her parents were always busy with work. There was no one to really talk and have a chat with her on how her day went, or if she's dealing with some problems she'd wanted to talk about or such. So she grew up without really having an idea on how to open up with others very well. The first and last time she has finally learned to open up and be herself with people didn't exactly give her good memories either. The last time she let her emotions control her after all only brought her heartache.</p><p>The three girls gave her an encouraging smile.</p><p>"We'll continue to cheer you on then! Right, Reika chan, Miu chan?" Yui beams as the two girls nod in agreement.</p><p>"Say, Takamoto san... would it be too much if I asked you to help me get an autograph from Kise kun? I mean... it it isn't a bother to you of course." Reika asks hopefully.</p><p>"Baka! Couldn't you be a little more discreet, Reika chan? Miu scolds her friend.</p><p>"Sorry! I'm not as bad as Yui san anyway."</p><p>"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"</p><p>Looking at the girls fooling around, being themselves and welcoming her to their circle, Aimi started to relax her shoulders a bit. Maybe she'd be able to try opening up a bit to other people again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Gossip does indeed travel fast. News of Kise's 'girlfriend' who apparently was their club's manager seemed to reach his fangirls immediately. Aimi was used to ignoring unwanted attention so it really wasn't a bother even though many scowls and sharp glares from the bleachers were headed towards her direction.</p><p>"Man, girls are scary. No wonder Kasamatsu's afraid of them." Hayakawa says upon noticing the audience above. His comment didn't go unnoticed by their captain who smacked him at the back of his head, yelling that the situation was different from his.</p><p>When the basketball club heard of the rumor and confirmed it through Kise, they didn't really reacted like it was a big deal much to Aimi's relief. Although most of them were suspicious at first, remembering their conversation back then at the locker room. Kise just shrugged it off and told them that he and Aimi wanted to keep it low key, but then the amount of girls starting to come after him were getting out of hand so he decided to let everyone know about it.</p><p>"Hey, Aicchi. I'll just go get changed then we can walk home together." He tells the girl once practice ended and gives her a wink.</p><p>His fangirls seemed to have heard that which resulted to all of them groaning and grumbling about how the rumor was actually real. It did its purpose anyway, since they seemed to have finally left the gym a bit dejected.</p><p>"Oi, Kise! Stop flaunting and start helping with cleaning up!" Kasamatsu yells and looks at their manager sympathetically. "I could understand why you've kept it a secret till now, Takamoto san. This idiot's just unbearable."</p><p>Aimi smiles healf-heartedly, trying to keep up with the act. She's still a bit glad that his team mates managed to keep the situation less awkward.</p><p>As soon as Kise was done fixing up, he walks towards the white haired girl who seemed to be busy with some papers.</p><p>"What's that you got there?" He asks curiously.</p><p>Organizing the documents she had been making since morning, Aimi shows them to the blonde. "It's a complete list of the player profiles of Touou. I'm expecting Momoi san to already have the same, although I'm confident this isn't anything less compared to the information she has gathered from us so far. Once I'm done arranging these I'll make some photocopies and hand it over to the team at the next practice."</p><p>"Wow, Takamoto san, this is impressive. This definitely makes us much easier to deal with them." Kasamatsu says while glancing at the papers on Kise's hands as the other club members joined in.</p><p>"Aicchi and Momoicchi were definitely a powerhouse team when it came to gathering information. Although Aicchi's analytical skills were stronger than Momoicchi's..." Kise added thoughtfully.</p><p>"Quit boasting your girlfriend, it's starting to get depressing for me..." Moriyama groans.</p><p>"Now, now senpai. I'm sure you'll find someone soon enough~" Kise informs him in his usual carefree manner.</p><p>He was actually good at keeping up this act, Aimi thought.</p><p>"Anyway, I need to go. I've got some homework to catch up with tonight. Um, let's go... Ryota kun." She says.</p><p>"Right, we're heading off. I'll see you senpais next practice!" Kise waves as they walk out together.</p><p>"Eh... Those two are quite an odd pair don't you think? I'm still actually a bit surprised when Kise confirmed that they were going out. It's somewhat suspicious if you ask me." Hayakawa says as the rest of them continued to watch the two, Kise happily talking away while the girl seemed to look like she was ignoring him yet at the same time actually listening to his chatter.</p><p>Kasamatsu smirks at the display although looks at them knowingly. "Who knows? They might actually be a perfect match."</p><p>The next day, Aimi saw the blonde waiting for her by the school gate.</p><p>"Ohayo, Aicchi! I didn't really know what time you usually leave for school, so I just decided to wait for you here." He greets cheerfully.</p><p>"You didn't have to wait for me, you know. We could have just seen each other during lunch or something." She points out.</p><p>The blonde just shrugs at her in return. "This is what 'couples' usually do. Plus, it makes our act more believable don't you think?"</p><p>A couple of students have gone on whispering among one another as they walked together towards the school building.</p><p>"They've come to school together! It's actually confirmed..."</p><p>"But maybe they're just friends, I heard they knew each other from middle school."</p><p>They heard some girls talk among themselves as they passed by, earning Aimi a wink from the blonde as if telling her 'I told you so' to which she just gave an eye-roll.</p><p>"Hmm, didn't Akashicchi wait for you at the entrance in the morning?" He says, recalling that his former captain had a driver to bring him to school.</p><p>"...No. Seijuro was a bit reserved. He occasionally came to fetch me at my classroom. Sometimes, he sends somebody from his class to inform me where and when we'd meet up." She explains.</p><p>Kise glanced at the girl and realized that she doesn't really have much usual experience when it comes to dating. Akashi wasn't any normal person after all. Despite that, she still managed to act calm and mature.</p><p>"Whew, I guess you'll have to learn a thing or two from me then until your next boyfriend comes along." He smirks proudly.</p><p>"You're an idiot." She hopelessly sighs as she grabs her indoor shoes from her locker.</p><p>"What did I say wrong?!" The blonde whines.</p><p>"Nothing, I just don't think I would be involving myself in a serious relationship ever again." She tells him.</p><p>"You say that, but you're 'dating' me now." He teases.</p><p>She gives him one of those cold stares. "This is not serious. Or do you like me to say it out loud here why?"</p><p>"Kidding!" The blonde tells her immediately. "But seriously though, when it comes, it comes. You can't actually deny the feeling the moment you feel it. Sure, you could deny it to everyone else, but the one person you can't deny it from is yourself."</p><p>Aimi remains silent for a moment, contemplating on Kise's words. "How about you then? With the amount of girls who like you, you could have just chosen someone to court and ask to be your girlfriend which we probably know she'll accept instead of this." She gestures, implying what both of them were currently doing.</p><p>"Nah, that would just be a bother." He says. "Besides, I haven't really met someone who'd interest me that way."</p><p>"Your ego really never fails to surprise me." Aimi deadpans as they soon reach her classroom.</p><p>"Like I always say, I'm just being honest." He smirks. "Well, here's your stop. I'll see you later, Aicchi!"</p><p>Kise actually managed to keep up with the boyfriend act smoothly. He always waited for Aimi during mornings and came to fetch her from the classroom occasionally after school. She actually realized she didn't mind since it didn't really take time off their usual day to day lives anyway. Occasionally, for the purpose of maintaining their 'status' to the public, they'd have lunch together. It was actually entertaining, she thought. They usually had lunch together as well back in middle school, but they didn't really hang out without everyone else unlike at present where they get to talk more of random things about themselves.</p><p>"I didn't really have much friends before you guys. I was an only child after all and my parents were always working, so I just kinda got used to being alone I guess." Aimi tells him during another usual day at lunch. They were hanging out by the benches at the school's garden which became their usual spot.</p><p>"I still think that's better than having two annoying older sisters though. They constantly nag at me all the time. I'm glad the other one's already married so there's one less annoying person in my life." He sighs dramatically as he picks some grapes from Aimi's bento.</p><p>"You should be glad you have sisters. When I was little, I usually only had my nanny to play with. It was kinda boring to be frank but I didn't exactly have a choice." The girl frowns.</p><p>"Eh, I guess so. They were fun until we all grew up. I really don't understand girls most of the time. Although, the remaining older sister living with us was the one who got me into modeling. At first it was bothersome, but I discovered that it makes decent money."</p><p>"Are you sure it's not because of the fame it brings you?" Aimi drawls.</p><p>"Well, I guess you can say that's one reason. However being too famous becomes bothersome sometimes. You should consider yourself lucky though to be 'dating' someone famous. As you can see, a lot of girls would die to be in your shoes." Kise says coolly.</p><p>"... You're impossible." She answers back, still annoyed with his usual antics but seemingly not as annoyed as she used to be.</p><p>Even though Kise's school life had evidently became more peaceful with lesser girls starting to bother him, Aimi's seemed to be more bustling but not really in a good way. More and more girls shot her dirty looks whenever she passed by the halls. She sometimes heard some of the girls from her class who were apparently Kise's fangirls starting to badmouth her, asking out loud what on earth had Kise saw in her since she had a nasty attitude anyway.</p><p>Aimi didn't really seem fazed at all by those. Because she ignored them and just chose to keep quiet as she normally does, it was Yui and the two other girls whom she have learned to acknowledge as friends, Reika and Miu who defended her from the verbal insults. Aimi told them multiple times to not bother and she doesn't really care about all the nasty words spouted against her but they still find themselves to be the ones angry over it. She told them, however, to keep their mouths shut and not bother telling Kise such trivial things.</p><p>She may have opened up a bit of her soft side to them, but she still held that scary and intimidating aura at times enough for them to keep that promise.</p><p>What made her amused was that the girls in Kaijo were in fact much braver than the ones back in Teiko. They seemingly learned to slip threatening messages in her locker, saying things such as that she was a bitch and didn't deserve Kise's attention. The blonde never noticed these things for she was discreet enough to not mention it to him, not like it was a big matter that she couldn't handle anyway. She had after all already dealt being envied on back when she was with Akashi.</p><p>What she didn't expect was that one day, some group of girls decided to corner her at an empty corridor.</p><p>"You think you're all that, Takamoto? You sure look pretty smug knowing you've got Kise kun wrapped in your hands." One of them says.</p><p>She immediately recognized her as one of those girls who were always watching from the bleachers during basketball practice. She and the other girls were one of the reasons Kise always get held up going to the gym trying to catch his attention.</p><p>Aimi didn't feel scared at all. Instead, she inched herself forward to level the girl who appeared to be their leader. "Move."</p><p>The girl didn't budge as with the rest of the group yet she could see in their eyes that they were intimidated by her murderous stare.</p><p>"Or what?" The leader replied.</p><p>Clearly this was going to be a bother. She normally ignored people like them, however she didn't really take it well when someone looks down on her. As she thought of what to do with the group before her, someone suddenly calls out her name.</p><p>"Takamoto san? Is that you?"</p><p>It was Kasamatsu and Hayakawa. They happen to spot her on their way to the faculty office and noticed that something didn't sit quite right with the situation at hand.</p><p>Knowing that there's nothing they could do with the seniors in sight, the girls decided to leave for now.</p><p>"You're lucky someone saw us this time, Takamoto. You better watch your back though." The leader says as they walk away, bumping her shoulders in the process.</p><p>As the two seniors approach the white haired girl, they couldn't help but be curious on what they think they saw took place from a distance.</p><p>"Are you alright, Takamoto?" Kasamatsu inquired.</p><p>Aimi smiles at them without any trace that indicated that she was bothered.</p><p>"Of course, senpai. Is something the matter?"</p><p>The two boys looked at each other knowingly but didn't press on it further.</p><p>"We just thought that there was something going on, that's all." Hayakawa was the one who answers.</p><p>"It's nothing of importance, really. But thank you for your concern, senpais." Aimi dismisses.</p><p>"Okay then... We'll be heading off now. See you during practice Takamoto san." Kasamatsu replies reluctantly as they start to head their own ways.</p><p>"I'll be seeing you guys then... Oh, and senpai, I'd very much appreciate it if you two wouldn't mention this incident to anyone for the matter." The girl says softly although one wouldn't miss the hint of warning on her tone.</p><p>The Interhighs have already started the following week and everyone from the Kaijo basketball team had been training extra hard to prepare for the upcoming matches. Aimi was confident that the team had improved rapidly, especially Kise who has showed a lot more growth ever since their practice match with Seirin. With the help of her compilation of player profiles per team and a thorough analysis on each of the player's strengths and weaknesses as well as theirs, they were able to improve a lot on their skills and work together even more in sync.</p><p>Spending a lot of time with the basketball team, Aimi has also learned to open up a bit to them especially to the seniors. She was showing a bit more of emotion than she once was and everyone seemed to have relaxed and be more comfortable around her. She was also thankful that Kasamatsu and Hayakawa seemed to have kept quiet about the little incident they found her in at one of the corridors a few weeks ago.</p><p>The girls who cornered her that day didn't bother her after that, although she always caught them still giving her dirty looks whenever they saw her with Kise. She just ignored them like she always does. They couldn't have done anything even if they wanted to anyway.</p><p>It was a fine Saturday morning when the basketball team had just won their first match for the preliminaries.</p><p>"Man, I'm beat! Hey guys, why don't we go sing karaoke this afternoon as a victory celebration?" Moriyama suggests while everyone agrees.</p><p>"Aimi san, you definitely must come as well." Hayakawa interjects, earning another round of agreement from the bunch.</p><p>"Uh, actually, I have a match this afternoon as well." The white haired girl tells them.</p><p>"Well, then. Let's go watch and cheer Aicchi and the volleyball team. Then, let's all go to karaoke afterwards!" He suggests while draping an arm around the girl, clearly excited with the fact that they're doing Karaoke later.</p><p>If this were before, Aimi would have annoyingly shrugged off the blonde's arms from her shoulders. Nowadays, it didn't seem to bother her anymore. Aside from them keeping up an act as a couple, Aimi grew comfortable enough around Kise that she didn't even bother to mind him acting even more casually with her. It was the same way as well for the blonde, who seemed to act more naturally and be his real self whenever he was around Aimi. The two of them seemed to develop a deeper level of friendship and understood each other even more with all the extra time they spent with one another.</p><p>Volleyball was just as a popular sport as basketball with the same wide audience at the Kanagawa Preliminaries.</p><p>Aimi has gone ahead a while ago so Kise and the others from the basketball team were left to find the stadium she would be playing in.</p><p>"Hurry up, Senpai! Aicchi's match has probably already started by now. Man, it's been a while since I went to an official volleyball match!" Kise says as they find their way around the stadium once they were inside.</p><p>"Not to mention, there are a lot of pretty ladies here!" Moriyama exclaims while looking around. "Female athletes are really attractive indeed."</p><p>As they settled for a seat, they found that Kaijo's Volleyball team were currently already in an ongoing match with a school called Tsurumi High.</p><p>"Amazing." Kasamatsu suddenly declared while they were watching their white haired manager on the court.</p><p>Kise couldn't hep but smirk at the concentrated gazes of his teammates. If they weren't really focused on the game earlier, they now are as Aimi was able to follow through quickly with a perfect toss after a jump serve.</p><p>"Her accuracy is insanely on point. It's like she has perfect aim on her mark no matter where she sets the ball from." His captain observes.</p><p>"That's what makes any team she is in hard to beat." The blonde explains as his teammates glance at him. "As a setter, they are majorly responsible for controlling the game since they toss the ball in preparation for the team to execute their offensive play. Each and everyone has their most confident position and angle to spike, it's different for one another. Moreover, the speed on how the offense is to be executed is also a defining factor, like a quick."</p><p>On the court below, Kaijo's opposing team had three blockers about to stop their attack but before they could have seen it the ball smashed swiftly into their side of the court.</p><p>"Woah, did you see that! It was insanely fast no one saw it coming!" A couple of people in the audience behind them exclaims.</p><p>"Aicchi has the ability to immediately read someone's strengths and weaknesses by observing them even just for a fraction of a time aside from her astounding sense and ball control. Because of that, she is able to easily match the spikers on her team and make them execute their best plays while setting their offensive attacks according to where her opponents find it most difficult to counter. Spikers are usually the main players that people keep their eyes on because of those flashy and powerful attacks, but setters are more impressive if you ask me. After all, they are the ones who dictate the game. The entire outcome of a team's offensive play entirely rests on them." Kise continues to explain.</p><p>The rest of the basketball team listens attentively as they resumed on watching the game. Aimi's expression was impassive, although her eyes remain alert on everything around her.</p><p>"Such concentration." Hayakawa says. "No wonder she's considered a prodigy in her sport. No wonder she was captain of their team back in middle school."</p><p>"How come you know so much about volleyball, Kise?" His captain asks.</p><p>The blonde scratches the back of his head, grinning. "I tried out on lots of different sports before I came to settle on basketball. They all bored me so easily since there was really no one to challenge. If Aicchi were on the men's volleyball team instead however, that would have probably been a different story. That's why my former teammates and I respect her. She had exceptional talents that could be up to par with ours."</p><p>"But volleyball is purely a team sport, there's no other way around it if you want to win." He adds quietly but enough for his seniors to hear. "That's why our ideals soon drifted far away from hers. She couldn't accept the fact that we were all slowly turning on one another as a team. Especially when Akashicchi has suddenly changed back then, that's when things became worse. We all slowly drifted apart from each other. While we still acknowledged one another's strengths, we gradually had come to the point that we felt were all better than the rest and that we were too strong enough individually to take on an entire team. That's why the Generation of Miracles made a pact before we graduated to see who's the strongest among the group. We intentionally have gone to different schools so we could just compete with one another in an official match."</p><p>Kasamatsu looked at the blonde beside him. The same arrogance and determination to defeat his former teammates was still evident, but there was something different this time around. The look on his face had a bit of realization in them that slowly proved his ideals wrong.</p><p>"I guess we have to thank Kuroko and Kagami for kicking your ass back then, eh? Besides, even if they didn't I would have surely kicked your ass literally over and over again to deflate that huge ego of yours." The captain smirks.</p><p>"You still do that often anyway, senpai." The blonde grumbled albeit knowing deep inside that he had in fact slowly found his passion for basketball once again aside from only winning.</p>
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<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Aimi chan was so awesome today! Our opponents didn't stand a chance earlier!" Yui exclaims to everyone inside the Karaoke room.</p><p>After the match ended in Kaijo's favor, the basketball team met up with Aimi and invited the rest of the volleyball team afterwards as a joint victory celebration.</p><p>"Ne, Aimi. Why do you even bother calling me senpai? You're the one who's obviously supposed to be teaching me not the other way around." Her captain teases</p><p>"Aimi chan's actually quite nice once you get to know her, Rina senpai. Although she's usually cold and scary, she actually has a soft spot deep inside." Yui informs her captain while poking the white haired girl on the ribs, earning her a dark glare.</p><p>"See? Scary."</p><p>"But seriously though, you were amazing back there Takamoto. I don't understand volleyball to the extent that you guys do, but Kise was generous enough to explain us more about it. You've got an insane talent here." Kasamatsu tells her.</p><p>"Heyyyy, everyone! Why don't we resume singing karaoke already? I bet everyone's curious to hear Aicchi sing!" Kise hums and the others all agree.</p><p>Aimi wanted to strangle the blonde before her, although she has to admit that she hadn't fun like this for a long time.</p><p>"Yeah, come sing for us manager san!" A second year from the basketball team says.</p><p>"I'm not really fond of karaoke..." Aimi tells them but she was still forced into it anyway, being shoved with the mic to her hands.</p><p>"I'm picking the song! Don't worry Aimi chan, I'll take it easy~" Yui says as she punches some numbers on the remote.</p><p>Aimi didn't really like karaoke and seeing the frantic look in her eyes prompted Kise to help her.</p><p>"Don't worry Aicchi, I'll duet with you! Just follow my lead." He winks.</p><p>The group whistled and cheered for the pair as the music soon starts.</p><p>Aimi has never heard Kise sing before but she knew he enjoyed singing karaoke. It was his favorite past time since they were in middle school. Too bad only Momoi actually wanted to join him whenever he tried to persuade them back then.</p><p>She had no choice but to sing and so she decided to go along with it. Kise did a good job in accompanying her and she actually realized she was enjoying it. Not long after, the song finally ended with her not as bothered as she was when it started.</p><p>"Wow... People like the both of you are always perfect in everything. Even in karaoke you guys managed to kill it! Aimi san, you really left us surprised that you were hiding that kind of voice." Hayakawa says.</p><p>"Kise kun was just as amazing! Ne, Aicchi, your voices both mash up well. Kise could be an idol apart from being a model!" Yui adds excitedly.</p><p>"I suppose so, right? Not to mention the pay is much more higher than a modeling job..." Kise replies thoughtfully as if trying to compute the money he'd earn if he indeed became an idol instead.</p><p>"I don't know how you tolerate him on a regular basis, Takamoto. For that, you have my 100% respect." Kasamatsu tells the white haired girl.</p><p>Aimi shrugs nonchalantly. "I do my best."</p><p>"Aicchi! Why are you on senpai's side more than me?!" The blonde whines and pouts at the girl.</p><p>Aimi would have normally ignored him every time he acted out being overly dramatic, but to everyone's surprise she actually smiled at the boy and teased him even further telling him if he didn't stop whining she will have to stop bringing his favorite onigiri during lunch. Kise immediately shut up afterwards, albeit still pouting.</p><p>"My, my... It looks like you're acting like a couple even more compared to the first time you guys had gone public." Rina states.</p><p>Aimi wanted to frown at the statement but she knew they had to keep up an act. Luckily Kise has quickly managed to cover up the almost slip up when he noticed the girl's expression.</p><p>"We always act like this when it's usually the two of us around. I guess that just means our Aicchi is starting to open up with you guys as well, eh?" He answers back casually.</p><p>She realized that Kise wasn't wrong, and much to her confusion she felt that her captain wasn't wrong either. Oh, but she definitely is. Denying the thought, she told herself that they were just that good with acting. They were good friends after all and Kise probably seemed to think the same.</p><p>Neither of the two brought up the said conversation as the days progressed ahead. They continued acting like the usual, not being really bothered about something Aimi thought was trivial. Kise and her continued to hang out during lunch and recently, even after school. Since Kise was actually poor in academics, Aimi had took pity on the blonde and agreed to help him with his studies.</p><p>"Ne, Aicchi. A couple of guys from my class were talking again about you earlier today." Kise suddenly says while getting bored with the notes from History class that Aimi has forced him to read. The two were currently in her room with their usual study sessions after the blonde has managed to almost fail another test yet again.</p><p>"Oh...? So what about it?" Aimi answers without really caring while she continued to work on her own homework.</p><p>"Hmm... Let's see. They were talking about how smart and pretty you are."</p><p>Assuming that he was onto his usual teasing and annoying again, she tried to come up with a quick comeback.</p><p>"That's when I told them that I don't appreciate hearing them fantasizing about you."</p><p>Aimi abruptly stopped thinking of the comeback she was supposed to say and momentarily glanced at the boy leaning by the foot of her bed. He looked bored playing toss with her volleyball while the notes he gave up on reading a while ago lay open and forgotten on the floor.</p><p>What caused her to stop was that she thought she heard a subtle display of irritation on his voice, something you could only hear from him when he was serious enough with his words. The white haired girl experienced the confused feeling once again, raising an eyebrow as she continued to stare at the boy still tossing the ball over his head repeatedly.</p><p>"Why?" She asked.</p><p>Kise caught the ball this time with both his hands and stopped to stare at her back as if studying her reaction. After a while, he suddenly grins widely.</p><p>"So they'd think I'm jealous, of course! People might start doubting you being my girlfriend after all if I didn't make them think I was affected by what they were saying." He answers lazily, all hint of what she thought she heard earlier was gone.</p><p>Although feeling confused again, she decided to ignore and dismiss what she thought she heard and went on continuing with her homework. "Good job, I guess?" She answers back simply without bothering looking back to see the blonde's expression.</p><p>Aimi soon forgot about the conversation as all of them became more focused on the upcoming Interhigh match. Kise acted more serious during training which didn't surprise Aimi. He kept telling her how he was looking forward to the next match since he will finally be able to face Aomine again. Even though he really wanted to defeat the said member of the Generation of Miracles, the white haired girl knew that the blonde still had some concern left for his former training partner. They were once good friends after all. Out of all his former teammates, Kise had become close to Aomine the most.</p><p>Because of their recent upcoming matches, both Aimi and Kise had spent less time hanging around during lunch break for the time being and instead went to meet with their respective clubs to do some extra preparations for their upcoming games such as watching previous matches of their competitors with the other schools. She didn't really mind even though she seemed getting used to spending time with the blonde as the latter seemed to feel the same way as well. What she didn't think of however was not being together as usual gave some the perfect opportunity to execute on their long time plan.</p><p>As Aimi was passing along one of the hallways on her way to the volleyball club room, she was too busy reviewing her last minute additions to her data collection of the Touou basketball team that she failed to notice a familiar group lingering by the corner. She continued to go down the stairs as the group seemingly went down the same way and as she was about to take her last two steps, she suddenly caught herself off balance as she felt someone push her from behind.</p><p>Good thing she had fast reflexes that instead of falling face forward and scattering all the papers in her hands, she has managed to keep hold of them while tilting her body sideways and using her free arm to cushion her fall.</p><p>Apparently it was a bad decision as she hissed in pain upon feeling her wrist bone hit the stone floor. She knew it wasn't broken, but the pain was strong enough for her to completely ignore it.</p><p>"We warned you to watch your back."</p><p>Aimi looked up to see who her attacker was and saw the same group of girls who cornered her a month ago. They continued to laugh and mock her as they they walked away feeling accomplished with what they've done.</p><p>It was a good thing there weren't people within eye range or she would have felt humiliated by what just happened. Aimi was a strong girl, or at least she managed to show people that she was one. Trying to ignore the now subsiding pain and cursing herself for not even seeing that coming, she quickly stood up and composed herself before making her way to the club room successfully without anyone noticing that something went wrong.</p><p>As much as she didn't want to let herself be bothered by the ordeal that took place earlier, Aimi couldn't hide the fact that she was annoyed that she allowed someone to push her over, both literally and figuratively. What's even more annoying is that it was one of Kise's stupid fangirls. She knew it wasn't the blonde's fault but she couldn't help but direct her bad mood to him.</p><p>It didn't go unnoticed by the boy since ever since she showed up at the basketball team's practice that afternoon everyone had felt the cold aura emitting from her. She was unusually too quiet and did not even bother to react to Kise's jokes or dramatic remarks. The rest of the basketball team noticed it too, but they thought she was just mad at him over something trivial.</p><p>Kise could not think of any reason why Aimi seemed to be angry at him. Unable to take it anymore, he decided to confront her once practice has ended.</p><p>"Hey, Aicchi! Are you feeling okay? You're not angry at me or something, are you?" He asks as he approached the white haired girl who was busy stapling the photocopies of the files she were to hand over to the rest of the team.</p><p>Aimi didn't bother to look up but managed to mumble an 'I'm fine' back to the blonde.</p><p>She definitely isn't okay, the blonde thought. Her sour look the whole afternoon as well as her lack of acknowledgement towards him was enough proof for it. Determined to know the reason why, he knew that he needed to get her attention and so he grabbed her hand to stop her from fixing those papers she was so focused on.</p><p>Kise didn't miss the slight flinch as he touched her. For a moment he thought it was due to anger but upon closer examination of her expression he knew she was in pain. Glancing to her wrist in his hand, he slowly loosened his grip a bit and held it up for him to get a closer inspection. A large angry bruise was evident yet no one from the team actually noticed it until now for she had done a good job of hiding it from plain sight.</p><p>At first he thought that she got it while training but quickly dismissed the theory when he remembered that it wasn't there yesterday when they walked home after her volleyball practice. As he tried to figure out how she got the injury, Aimi managed to pull her hand away from his grasp.</p><p>"It's nothing." She answers quietly.</p><p>"Ne, Aicchi, if there's something wrong you can tell me—"</p><p>"Didn't I just say that it was nothing?!</p><p>Her sudden snap brought the attention of all the other members from the basketball team as her voice echoed throughout the gym. Kasamatsu and the seniors who happened to be standing nearby saw the bruise on Aimi's wrist when Kise held it up and were actually suddenly concerned for their club's manager.</p><p>Realizing what she just did, she quickly packed her stuff and stood up.</p><p>"I'm going home ahead today. I have some schoolwork to deal with." She tells the blonde as she left him shocked that she yelled at him.</p><p>As they watch the scene unfold, Kasamatsu glanced over the bleachers to see some students still remaining behind. He seemed to recognize the group of girls who looked like they were snickering among one another as they watch Aimi leave. That's when it suddenly clicked with him.</p><p>Kise still remained on his previous spot when he was kicked from behind by his captain.</p><p>"Ow, senpai! What was that for?" He whines.</p><p>"You idiot." Kasamatsu says angrily.</p><p>The blonde realizes that his seniors saw the girl's bruise as well. "I didn't hurt her, I swear!"</p><p>The basketball team captain sighs frustratingly at the clueless boy before him. "We know. I think I have an idea what happened to her hand. Or rather, who."</p><p>"Tell me, senpai." Kise's voice was suddenly low and serious. Someone did that to her? But who could have possibly hurt her and why?</p><p>"Oi, Kise. I didn't know that you could be even more of an idiot than you already are." Hayakawa says clearly angry as well when he realizes who Kasamatsu was referring to.</p><p>"Look, Takamoto told us to never mention this to you but since things have clearly gone out of hand I think it's time you should know. A month ago, we passed by a corridor and found her being harassed by some girls. Your fangirls. She thought we weren't near enough to hear their conversation, but we heard them clear as day when they threatened her. Judging from her reaction, it seemed to be an ongoing occurrence. She seemed to handle herself well so we agreed to keep quiet about it when she told us to." Kasamatsu tells Kise.</p><p>"Aimi san's strong enough to take care of herself, but don't forget she's still a girl. She might not be the frail type but she's not exactly invincible either. To think that she made us promise to not mention anything to you because she didn't want it to be a bother. You should consider yourself lucky you have a girl like her by your side." Hayakawa adds.</p><p>Aimi felt so stupid for yelling at the blonde earlier. She knew it wasn't his fault yet she couldn't explain why she was angry towards him. Did she expect him to be at least aware of how his fangirls thought of her? This whole dating thing was his idea so he should have been at least aware of the consequences. But she agreed to the deal even though she also knew perfectly what could be coming... So was this her fault or his to begin with? Why is she thinking too much about this anyway? Normally, she would have just shrugged it off and found a way to get back on the offenders sooner or later. Even though she is clearly worked up for a reason she can't explain, she kept denying it to herself as she continued to walk home for the day.</p><p>Kise was a bit surprised by the revelation. Sure, he knew he had a lot of fan girls and that some were possibly jealous when they knew he had a girlfriend. But to the point of hurting her? Aimi actually did a superb job on fulfilling her end of the bargain, but she didn't have to endure the hatred the other girls showed towards her by herself. Why didn't she tell him? Moreover, how could he be so stupid to not notice? He seemed to suddenly feel a pang of anger as he silently started to pack up his things. Whether it was towards those girls who hurt Aimi or to himself, he didn't really know either.</p><p>Kise didn't show up by the school gate to meet Aimi like usual in the morning. It shouldn't have been a big deal for the white haired girl and although she didn't really show it on the outside, she was a bit concerned that she may have upset the blonde. He didn't show up for lunch either which made her confirm her suspicions. Despite this though, she acted as if it was just any normal day like it didn't really bother her.</p><p>During her volleyball training, her teammates have noticed her wrapping her wrist with a bandage. Although they were curious, they did not probe any further when she told them she just tripped and landed the wrong way and that she was fine. Her tosses were actually still perfect as ever, but if one has been observing the white haired girl closely you would notice the slight flinch of pain in her eyes every time she makes contact with the ball.</p><p>Kise, who had been watching at the bleachers for a while now definitely noticed it. Aimi was surprised when she saw the blonde waiting for her outside the locker room's entrance. None of them said anything to each other as they walked home together like the usual. One could tell that the silence was a bit uncomfortable between them.</p><p>Aimi did not expect the blonde to walk her up to her home since they usually part ways after they get off the same train station. Still, she did not object to the idea. Although, it would have felt better if she knew what was going on inside his head.</p><p>"I'm sorry."</p><p>The very words she had been meaning to say had been spoken, although it was instead directed to her. Both teens had stopped in their tracks as Kise looked back at the girl with no hint of humor on his face. Reaching out gently to grab her hand still wrapped in bandages, he continued to speak.</p><p>"I could have stopped this from happening." He mumbles as he clearly starts to look frustrated at himself for not being able to do anything. "Senpai was right. I'm an idiot to not have noticed. Why didn't you tell me there were girls harassing you?"</p><p>"It wasn't important." Aimi tells him quietly.</p><p>Careful not to squeeze his hand on her injury, the blonde pulled her closer. "Why? Do you think I wouldn't have cared?!"</p><p>It's not like they haven't been this close before, but something felt different. The white haired girl could also tell that Kise was upset over the matter yet it seemed that it was more towards himself rather than her.</p><p>"I... I didn't think you would." She answers him honestly.</p><p>"Of course I would have!"</p><p>Lost in thought for a moment, Kise continues to stare into the girl's eyes. After what seemed like minutes of contemplating, he sighs deeply and lets go of Aimi.</p><p>"We may be pretending to be together, but you're still my friend. Moreover, you were in this predicament because of me." He says, turning his back to her.</p><p>He actually cared, Aimi thought. Observing the blonde, he seemed a bit angrier than she predicted yet she didn't know why.</p><p>"I'm sorry, Ryota. At first, I just thought that it was just a trivial matter and that I could have handled it myself."</p><p>"You always keep things to yourself, Aicchi. It isn't bad to tell what you feel to other people at times. You could trust me." Kise says which surprises Aimi yet again.</p><p>"Right... Well, I'll try to tell you next time." She says, a bit unsure of her reply. Something was definitely different, though she could not really pinpoint what exactly. This was the first time they really fought with each other on a serious setting. This was also the first time Kise has openly acknowledged her as a friend without any hint of playfulness to it. It was a bit weird for Aimi, but not really in a bad way.</p><p>As if reading her mind, the blonde suddenly resumes to his carefree demeanor and beams widely. "Well, then! Since I've come this far, why don't you treat me to a popsicle before we get to your place?"</p><p>Aimi rolls her eyes but produces a smile as she walks along with him to the convenience store. Everything seemed to be back to normal as they resume talking to one another about how each other's day went. The new different feeling still lingered at the back of her head but she quickly dismissed it once again.</p>
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<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I'd very much appreciate your thoughts, so please help me keep going by letting me know what you think of the story so far in your reviews!~ happy reading x<br/>------------------------------------------------</p><p>"Ai-chaaaaaaaan!" Momoi screams excitedly and latches herself to Aimi.</p><p>It's the day of the quarter finals between Kaijo's basketball team and Touou. While making their way to the locker rooms, both teams unexpectedly ran into each other. The atmosphere would have continued to be tense if it weren't for Touou's quirky pink haired manager who managed to break it.</p><p>"I've missed you Ai chan! I told you to keep in touch, yet you rarely return my text messages! When I found out that you were Kaijo's club manager, I was actually surprised since we all thought you were done with basketball because of... er... Anyway! I still kinda expected you'd be here! Looks like Ki chan managed to convince you after all!" Touou's manager exclaimed.</p><p>Although she didn't look like it, Aimi was actually happy to see her former co-manager as well. "You're still as loud as ever Satsuki chan. It's great to see you too..."</p><p>Aimi then turns to look at the team behind Momoi. "I guess Daiki kun hasn't changed his way of thinking, has he?" She says, noting that the former Generation of Miracle's ace wasn't there.</p><p>The pink haired girl frowns for a moment, a tinge of sadness evident in her eyes. "I'm afraid getting him to truly love basketball like he once did would be a much harder feat than I thought."</p><p>Just then, much to everyone's surprise, Aomine suddenly shows up. While everyone fixated their eyes on the dark skinned boy, he in return had been staring at Kise who was standing among the Kaijo team.</p><p>"Well, this is interesting." He says as soon as he glances to the girl who Momoi had been talking to.</p><p>"It's a bit more interesting to see you not late for a match this time around, Daiki kun." Aimi tells him casually, as if the the sudden reappearance of the heavy tension around all of them did not faze her one bit.</p><p>Both teams were well aware that the four people who are currently the center of attention at the moment knew each other given their known history. It was still unnerving though that they manage to talk so casually despite the air between all of them being too thick.</p><p>"When I first heard from Momoi that you and Kise were dating, I didn't really believe it. Then again, I'm also not surprised if Kaijo had gone out of their way to convince you to join them. Akashi knew that you were a valuable asset after all since he has kept you wrapped under his fingers back then." He drawls.</p><p>Of course Momoi would find out about her and Kise, Aimi thought.</p><p>"Dai chan! That was low!" Momoi shouted at the boy fiercely yet she was ignored.</p><p>"Leave Aicchi out of this, Aominecchi. This battle is between the two of us today. Whatever you heard about her and I is completely none of your business." Kise says, all cheerfulness gone from his face at the moment.</p><p>Everyone from Kaijo was surprised by the blonde's reaction. This was the first time they have seen Kise seriously get defensive when it came to Aimi.</p><p>"The coach is already waiting for us at the locker room. We need you all to get settled in time for warm ups." Aimi says with finality, still looking at the two boys who were staring at one another intently.</p><p>Kise finally breaks the stare and grins at his former team mate wickedly. "Well, I didn't come here to lose after all."</p><p>He turns his back to the Touou team and pats Aimi gently on the head as he and the rest of his teammates made their way to the locker room.</p><p>"Ai chan, wait!" Momoi calls out to the white haired girl before she turns around to join the boys. "About what Dai chan said earlier... Um..."</p><p>"We'll talk about it later on, Satsuki chan." Aimi answers her with a smile. She knew that the pink haired manager was a bit embarrassed that Aomine hinted to them that she found out about her and Kise while she was gathering some information about their team but Momoi was also curious about the turn of events as well.</p><p>The sudden turn of the events when Kise has managed to do a perfect copy of Aomine's skills left everyone watching shocked. Aimi believed that Kise would have been able to do it though. She has seen him practice more than everyone and the amount of determination he had to win this game was no doubt one of the reasons the blonde was able to break past Aomine. A knowing smile formed on her lips as she watches the boy give his all, even managing to pass the ball to Kasamatsu, something he wouldn't have done if he were his old self.</p><p>Sadly, Kaijo still lost. Seeing Kise injuring his leg and being unable to stand up for the lining up of teams urged her to run to the court to help him if it weren't for their captain who managed to help him up and comfort the blonde.</p><p>When the team reached the locker room, everyone was quiet and gloomy. Aimi went to the blonde by the corner who still remained silent, his head down low under a towel which draped over him. Without really thinking, she held him under her arms not caring if everyone was watching them. She didn't really expect him to react, but she felt a pair of strong sweaty arms wrapping around her waist.</p><p>Kise had held onto her in return. Even though he tried to hide it, Aimi could feel the tears of frustration coming from his eyes dripping into her clothes.</p><p>She didn't care about any of it, instead her only concern for the moment was to comfort the boy before her. She didn't really understand why she felt the strong urge to stop the pain and frustration he had been feeling. It's as if she also felt the same pain for him.</p><p>"Really... This lucky bastard." Hayakawa shakes his head knowingly as they all watch the two who seemed to be in their own little world.</p><p>While everyone was about to be finished packing up, Aimi excused herself for a bit, telling the team that she would catch up to them once it was already time to leave since she had to run some last minute errands.</p><p>That was a little white lie, of course. She actually had gone to catch up on Aomine, who had been walking out of the gym heading home alone as expected.</p><p>"I suppose you still have a soft spot left inside of you, Daiki kun." The white haired girl says as soon as Aomine spots her leaning by the gate. It seemed to the boy that she was waiting for him.</p><p>"Tch. I don't know what you're talking about Takamoto."</p><p>"We both know you weren't really using your full strength back then. Besides, you couldn't hide the fact that you still have an ounce of care left for your former team mate. You were once close after all." Aimi says simply.</p><p>"I don't need your pity, Takamoto. What's with you and Satsuki today anyway? The both of you just couldn't keep your mouths shut." Aomine says, although the tone of his voice tells her that he doesn't really mean it.</p><p>Aimi smiles, confirming that a piece of the old boy's self was little by little breaking out of its restrained shell.</p><p>"I don't know what's really going on between the two of you." Aomine adds, stopping for a bit before fully walking away. "But whatever it is, I know that idiot doesn't do things without a reason. It doesn't matter whether he's aware about it or not."</p><p>She didn't know what that meant, but she didn't linger behind any longer as soon as the boy left.</p><p>When Aimi got back to the team, they were already waiting for her by the gym's entrance.</p><p>"Sorry to keep you all waiting." She says as she bows apologetically.</p><p>"You went and look for Aominecchi, did you?" Kise asks her as the team was on their way to grab some dinner before going home.</p><p>Aimi isn't really surprised that Kise knew. "Yeah. The old Daiki seems to be still in there, don't you think?"</p><p>The blonde doesn't say anything, obviously thinking to himself while a small smile creeps under his lips.</p><p>Suddenly, Aimi felt a hand grabbing onto hers. She felt a bit surprised and confused as she looked at the blonde.</p><p>"Thanks for the, uh... Thanks for making me feel better earlier." He mumbles quietly, not looking at her in the eye.</p><p>There was something about that moment, no matter how often they usually held hands for the purpose of everyone to see them as a couple that Aimi could tell this was different. It somehow felt... warmer. Why was it? Could it be that... But no. She quickly denied the thought and shook it off her head.</p><p>Practice continued as usual. The basketball team took more longer hours to train hard in preparation for the finals. Luckily, Kise's injury wasn't at all that serious. He could still play, yet Aimi was concerned over him pushing himself that he might injure his leg any more further.</p><p>"Are you sure your leg's doing fine? You know I could see a player's weakness easily, Ryota." The white haired girl tells the blonde after one of their trainings.</p><p>"Aww, is Aicchi that worried about me? Don't worry, I won't overwork myself too much to upset you." The blonde answers playfully.</p><p>"Cut it out and go pack up your stuff already." She grumbles.</p><p>"But I'm serious though." He says, giving her a soft smile. "I hate seeing you upset."</p><p>Kise seemed to be a bit too on board on his boyfriend act lately, Aimi thought. She supposed it's because as they continue to progress on their way to the finals, the basketball team seemed more popular than ever. His fangirls seemed to have been rooting for him more and more and diligently came to watch all of his practices. Maybe he was thinking that he couldn't afford to be held up nor bothered while he concentrated on his basketball which is why he made it a point to show off his 'girlfriend' to others. He was actually determined to take his team to the finals after all.</p><p>That's not what bothers her however. The confusing feeling she keeps on experiencing keeps coming back to her every time she and the blonde spends time together more and more. She doesn't know what to make out of it, to be honest. She couldn't explain what the feeling was either. Most of the time, she finds herself being too concerned about him even more.</p><p>After weeks of grueling practice, the long awaited Winter Cup soon finally came. Today's the opening ceremony and every team who qualified were at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. After the formal speech and parade of players from the opening, Aimi spotted the familiar blue haired boy along with the Seirin team. Everyone from their team seemed to look nervous as they stared out into huge gym before them. Kuroko then spotted her from afar so she managed to excuse herself for a while from her own team and approached the group.</p><p>"Hello, everyone." She greeted politely and bowed.</p><p>"Takamoto san! We expected you guys would be here." The Seirin coach says.</p><p>"Of course, Aida san." She smiles and turns to the boys. "Are you guys nervous? Don't worry, it usually takes little time to be able to get used to a huge gym. You guys will be warmed up in no time."</p><p>The boys from the Seirin team were a bit stunned to say the least, seeing the once stoic girl who visited them months back now showing a friendly atmosphere.</p><p>"Um, sorry, but may I step out for a bit?" Kuroko suddenly interjects, earning a scolding from his coach.</p><p>"But... I've been summoned."</p><p>His answer earned some curious stares from his team mates. Aimi let out a knowing sigh deeply which caused them to direct their attention to her for a second while the blue haired boy spoke again.</p><p>"I'm going to meet up with Akashi kun." Kuroko says and glances a bit towards Aimi.</p><p>"The captain of the Generation of Miracles." Someone from Seirin muttered lowly.</p><p>Their coach had no choice but to allow him but told him to be back in time for their afternoon game.</p><p>Aimi remained unfazed. She stood there with the group even after Kuroko left when Seirin's coach instructed one of her first year members to follow him.</p><p>"That might not have been a wise decision." The white haired girl tells her, earning some questioning looks.</p><p>"It could be dangerous for him." She answers simply. Her phone then beeps and she reaches out for it from her pocket to check the new message.</p><p>Aimi kept silent for a while, her eyes scanning the screen of her phone. She did not give away any emotion whatsoever as she stared intently into it for a moment then afterwards she finally snapped it shut, calmly placing it back in her pocket.</p><p>"Well, then. It appears I have been included in the summoning as well." She says coolly to the group, seeing them suddenly tense up. Before turning around she gives them a curt smile and bows slightly. "Don't worry, I'll watch over your team mates when I get there."</p><p>It was a surprise that she managed to display a cool demeanor after reading the text message. Aimi could feel her heart pounding so loud that it reached her ears. She walked calmly and gracefully as ever as she made her way to the meeting place assigned. To be honest she could have just ignored it, she wasn't part of the Generation of Miracles anyway and only their manager. However, she didn't want to look like a coward, especially in front of the boy who summoned her. She figured that she would have to face him more and more often later on so it would be best to face the music as early as now.</p><p>As she arrived by the steps, she found the whole Generation of Miracles gathered as expected. There were two people out of place though, one was the first year that Kuroko's coach sent to follow the phantom sixth man and the other was surprisingly non other than the boy whom she found a promising new potential in, Kagami. Everyone had their backs turned around her except for the Seirin members, all of them whom were listening to Akashi speaking.</p><p>"In this world, winners are affirmed completely, and losers are denied completely." The red haired emperor starts to say as he begins to cut off the bangs covering his face with the scissors on his hands. The aura was tense and terrifying but it didn't affect her nor the other boys, except for Kagami and the poor shivering first year at least.</p><p>Akashi continues to speak coldly. "I show no mercy to those who oppose me. Even if they're my parents. Isn't that right, Aimi?"</p><p>Everyone turned their heads around to find the white haired girl standing at the top of the stairway at the mention of her name. No one expected her to appear before them except for the red haired captain.</p><p>There was silence among the group as everyone watched Akashi hand the scissors back to Midorima and slowly came up the stairs to approach her.</p><p>Aimi was quite excellent in maintaining an impassive expression. She followed the boy with her eyes as he walked up straight to her, stopping when they were already leveled face to face.</p><p>"Are you finally through with your little charade?" He says out loud for everyone to hear.</p><p>No one dared to butt in the conversation. Everyone present watched both of them intently as if they were a ticking time bomb ready to explode at any minute.</p><p>"Seijuro." Aimi finally said, her voice cold enough to convey a mask of indifference. "I'm not sure I have an idea what you're talking about."</p><p>This seemed to tick off the red haired emperor since he suddenly stepped closer to cover the little space left between them. His face was feral as it moved forward to be mere inches apart from her. Aimi did her best to remain unfazed as she resisted the urge to ball up her fingers into a fist.</p><p>Akashi placed a finger on her chin and forcedly lifted it up to level her eyes with him. "Don't make me ask you the same question again." He growled lowly.</p><p>Suddenly before anyone could have anticipated it, Aimi felt someone tug her arm. The force was strong enough that in one swift movement she found herself almost falling down the stairs if the one who had pulled her hadn't catch her whole body effortlessly. The next thing she knew she found herself wrapped protectively in Kise's arms who happened to be standing at the lower steps nearest to them.</p><p>She was not the only one who was stunned by the sudden turn of events. Everyone, including Akashi wore shocked expressions as the blonde in question now had a dangerous look on his eyes. Other than Murasakibara who foolishly talked down on the red haired captain that one unfortunate day back in middle school, no one ever dared to try it again since.</p><p>Akashi seemed to snap out of it quickly, smiling devilishly after momentarily being caught off guard. "You're about to dig your own grave, Ryota."</p><p>"Akashicchi." Kise's voice was nothing but serious. "I thought I made it clear last time that she has nothing to do with you anymore."</p><p>Aimi wanted to open her mouth in shock upon hearing the blonde speak like that. Where is this suddenly coming from? She could understand that he was just trying to protect her but never did she expect that it would be up to this extent, even talking back to the one person everyone dared not to. She was too focused on the tension at hand that she didn't even notice that she had been clutching tightly on his shirt by his chest if it weren't for the sudden tightness of his arms around her waist.</p><p>After a few minutes of a stare showdown between the two, Akashi finally decided to speak up. "Well, then. I'm leaving. I just wanted to say hello to everyone today." He said as he starts to turn his back.</p><p>"What? Don't be ridiculous, Akashi!" It was Aomine who yelled this time, furious that he was summoned for supposedly nothing. "Did you just summon us for that?!"</p><p>"No. I actually wanted to confirm something, in ways more than one." He said calmly as he turned back around to give one last look at all his former teammates, eyes landing last on the white haired girl and the blonde. "But after seeing your faces, I realized there was no need to."</p><p>Everyone gave intense knowing stares, clearly understanding what he meant.</p><p>"The next time we meet will be on the court. Then I'll make you understand that weakness of yours has no room for winning." He says with finality with the last part directed to Aimi as he spared her one last glance before walking away.</p>
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<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kise's grip on Aimi slowly loosened after the red haired boy left. After realizing she had been clutching rather hard on his chest, she immediately let go of him as well.</p><p>"Eh... I didn't know that Ai-chin and Kise-chin were dating." Murasakibara finally breaks the silence, resuming to munch on the chips he had been holding. "No wonder Aka-chin was furious."</p><p>"Is that any way to greet an old friend, Atsushi kun?" Aimi told the large boy, trying to shake off the previous tension in the air by cocking her head to the side while giving him a curious look.</p><p>Kise suddenly grabs her by the wrist. She looked back and found him still facing the direction where their former captain had been standing and spoke up without bothering to look at anyone. "We're already leaving. The show's already done here."</p><p>Tugging the white haired girl along, he had left Aimi no room to protest as she had no choice but to be dragged with him while they left everyone else staring at them.</p><p>"I warned him the last time we met. Of all the girls he had to be involved with..." Midorima sighed as he fixed his glasses.</p><p>Aomine shrugs in response. "That's out of our hands and clearly none of our business anymore." He says, although the faint look on his eyes tell otherwise.</p><p>"To be honest, I think this is the first time I've ever seen Kise kun being sincere with his feelings towards a girl." Kuroko suddenly speaks up.</p><p>"O-Oi!" The first year Seirin whose name turned out to be Furihata finally musters the courage to say something. "How come all of you manage to speak so casually yet equally terrifying at the same time?!"</p><p>The remaining Generation of Miracles stared back blankly at the boy.</p><p>"Huh... What are you talking about? This is how we are on a normal setting." Murasakibara answers, mouth filled with the chips he was still currently enjoying.</p><p>Kise was abnormally quiet on their way back inside the gym. He maintained long, purposeful strides, not letting go of his grasp on the girl.</p><p>"Ryota, slow down for a bit." Aimi tried to tell him but he didn't seem to be listening. "Ryota!"</p><p>The second time she called out his name, he finally stopped. He seemed to have no plans on letting go of her hand, yet he just stood there not saying a word nor bothering to look at her.</p><p>Aimi decided to speak up seeing that he wouldn't budge. "You didn't have to go out of your way to help me back there. I could have handled him by myself."</p><p>She heard him scoff and after a moment he finally let go of her hand. "That's what you always say, but the truth is deep inside you always hoped that there was someone to help you carry your burdens."</p><p>Aimi didn't know what to say. She didn't expect Kise to have known her so well. After all, she thought she had done a pretty excellent job in keeping all her emotions in check all the time.</p><p>The blonde turned to her, not even a trace of humor etched on his face. "Why do you keep pushing people away?" He asked as he placed both his hands on each side of her shoulder. "Why do you always keep denying my help?"</p><p>"Why do you always insist that you can handle everything on your own?!" He suddenly raised his voice, earning looks from the other people passing by. Realizing that he had now been gripping on her shoulders too tight and unconsciously shook her, he slowly loosened his hold.</p><p>His next words were barely above a whisper, enough for only Aimi to hear. "And yet, you always make me worry about you."</p><p>The white haired girl's eyes widened even just for a fraction of a second. She was still at a loss for words. Everything seemed to confuse her more and more. Or was it she who was the only one confusing herself? "Ryota, I..."</p><p>"Sorry. That was out of line." Kise let go of her and immediately turned back to face walking forward. "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that."</p><p>Aimi didn't feel any trace of anger. Frankly speaking, she was actually surprised by the blonde's sudden shift in behavior. She knew he had been acting different for some time now, yet she kept denying the truth to herself. Was it because she was afraid to assume something she might be wrong with?</p><p>Once again, Aimi dismissed those thoughts that kept on lingering inside her.</p><p>One more time, she denied the possible feeling that fought to take over.</p><p>"You're right, you were out of line." She finally says. "The reason why I keep pushing people away is because I don't want to burden anyone with my own problems. Nothing good will come out of it and in the end, someone will only end up getting hurt."</p><p>She noticed Kise's shoulders tense up for a bit, and after a while of staying silent his aura suddenly shifted back to how he usually was.</p><p>"You're always acting so cruel towards me, Aicchi!" He whines, faking a sob. "You should be thanking me for doing a good job on maintaining our fake relationship in front of Akashicchi back there. If we weren't able to convince him last time during your dad's party, I'm absolutely sure that this time around he truly believes that you have already moved on from him!" He boasts playfully.</p><p>Aimi blinked confusingly at him. For a moment she thought there was something else going on but she guessed she was indeed just imagining it.</p><p>"Or could it be... That you still have feelings for him?" The blonde hums as he nudges her by the elbow.</p><p>No, she wasn't imagining anything.</p><p>Even though Kise made it seem like he was teasing her, she didn't miss the flash of pain that was expertly hidden on his eyes. If she were any ordinary person, they wouldn't have probably seen it like she did.</p><p>"Oi! Where have you two been?"</p><p>Both teens turned towards the person calling out to them and saw that it was Kasamatsu.</p><p>"We were just having some time alone together, senpai!" Kise answered cheerfully, placing an arm around Aimi's shoulder. "Did we miss anything important?"</p><p>The captain shakes his head in annoyance yet decides to let it slide. "We're just about to watch Seirin's game when we noticed that you two have gone missing for more than an hour already. Hurry and grab your lunch, we'll go on ahead and save you some seats."</p><p>Aimi watched as Kasamatsu went back inside, staying silent for a while now. She decided to ignore everything that she had noticed from the blonde earlier and continued to act like how she normally would around him, seeing that he opted to do the same.</p><p>"I saw a burger stand inside. Your treat?" She asked as they started walking.</p><p>"What?! Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? I'm the one who deserves a reward today after all." The blonde pouted.</p><p>The girl smiled at his antics. That's right. It's easier to remain this way. Deciding to ignore the truth makes it less complicated for everyone. "Fine, but I get to pick which burger you're having."</p><p>Classes and club trainings carried on like they normally did. Like before, Kise never brought up the incident of their little reunion with the other Miracles and nor did Aimi. The blonde continued to act like he normally did, although it was only Aimi who noticed that there was a subtle change once again.</p><p>It seemed like Kise had been less clingy than before. He even stopped making those comments that left Aimi wondering whether he was joking or not. He never hinted on any of those previous actions that made her confused of his behavior towards her as well. It was like he was back to the old Kise from Middle School, the type who had been always cheerful and joking around casually among his friends and was only serious enough when it came to basketball.</p><p>Of course, he still kept up the boyfriend act. However, it was nothing more than walking Aimi to and from school and the usual hanging out during lunch, which the girl noticed had become less and less frequent. The blonde had lately been leaving her text messages saying that he can't hang out that day because of random excuses like he had something important to do with school work or that he had to meet up with Kasamatsu and the rest of the basketball team for a meeting.</p><p>Aimi knew that they were all lies. Kise wouldn't give a damn with his studies if not for her constant nagging or the fact that he had to maintain decent grades to remain in the basketball club. Kasamatsu always kept in touch with her often when it comes to the basketball team's schedule so she was always aware what the team was up to. Despite knowing all this, she still decided to let him be and act like there was nothing out of the ordinary.</p><p>Kise stopped hanging around Aimi's house after school as well. He kept telling her that he had a shoot scheduled for his modeling job which she knew was also an excuse. Like always, Aimi kept telling herself that it did not bother her and kept acting like normal.</p><p>One day however, she realized that she couldn't deny to herself anymore that something was definitely wrong.</p><p>"Is there something wrong?" She suddenly blurted out while both of them were walking home.</p><p>Kise was busy on his phone, probably reading some fan mail. He used to start doing it a lot recently every time they were together. "Huh? Something wrong with what?" He says nonchalantly.</p><p>The white haired girl didn't know why she was annoyed. Is it because she was already becoming used to his previous constant attention and it suddenly went away? Not that she would admit that though.</p><p>"Whatever." She growled as she walked briskly ahead of him.</p><p>"Hey! What's your problem?" Kise called out as he reached for her arm before she got further ahead of him.</p><p>She didn't actually know what the problem was.</p><p>"My problem? What's your problem!" She said, not really meaning for it to come out as a yell yet she was too irritated to even bother.</p><p>The blonde stared at her looking confused. "Uh, I don't think I have a problem. Why are you so angry at me all of a sudden?"</p><p>"Oh, quit denying it!" She snapped. "I know you know what I mean. You always act so carefree like nothing's bothering you, but all those subtle changes in your behavior never got past me at all."</p><p>"I'm not denying anything, Aicchi." Kise answers back, finally releasing the serious side he stopped showing her ever since the Winter Cup Opening Ceremony. "You say that you have always been aware of how I act around you, yet you're the one who chose to act like nothing's different."</p><p>"I don't know what you're talking about." She tells him, feeling frustrated.</p><p>"See, you're the one denying it." He says simply.</p><p>Unable to think clearly, Aimi seemed to resort to the best thing she thought she was good at— She had to push him away.</p><p>"You know what? Maybe we should take a break for a while from this whole fake relationship thing. You don't have to walk with me all the way home and since we both have the nationals going on we could just pass it up that it's been hectic for our schedules to hang out together like the normal. What's important is people get to see us in school together occasionally and no one would find anything suspicious about it." She manages to tell him.</p><p>Kise's expression was unreadable. He remained standing in front of the girl, hands both inside his pockets and not saying a word.</p><p>The silence was starting to become deafening. Aimi had no idea what the blonde was currently thinking as he continued to stare at her. After what seemed to be minutes, he smirked sadly.</p><p>"You're so selfish, Aicchi. First you pushed me away and when I kept my distance you suddenly get mad only to push me back even further away from you." He says quietly.</p><p>"That's not what I..." She tried to deny but he suddenly cut her off.</p><p>"It's fine." He told her smiling. "It isn't a big deal anyway since we're just pretending. I get it, you're probably just stressed enough from dealing with your own problems. I've got to go anyway. My manager just texted and told me we have an impromptu shoot right now so I have to get to the studio right away. I'll see you in school tomorrow, then!"</p><p>He didn't give Aimi a chance to respond as he waved at her quickly and left. She stood there watching his back head towards the direction of the subway. What did just happen? She was clearly confused and frustrated with herself with her current behavior. Everything was just so messed up that she didn't know what to think anymore.</p><p>The following day, no one seemed to notice that there was some unknown tension between her and the blonde. Kise continued to talk to her casually and she as well did the same. She decided to concentrate on other 'important' things such as her studies, volleyball club and her job as a manager for the basketball team. The boys had a game tomorrow against a school named Fukuda Sogo Academy, and while all of them were in the club room that evening watching the opponent's previous match Aimi was busy finishing up the said school's player profiles when she noticed a familiar name from the list.</p><p>Kise had seemed to notice it too, for he suddenly stood up from his seat mid match startling everyone around him. She wanted to talk to him about it, since she knew that the person in question was one of Kise's worst opponents. Nothing would definitely come out good with them having to face each other again. Aimi was however reluctant to talk to the blonde, feeling uneasy because of their previous quarrel that she let her pride get in the way and opted to leave him alone with it.</p><p>The following evening, the said match between Kaijo and Fukuda Sogo was about to start. Everyone seemed to be relaxed except for Kise who was fired up more than usual.</p><p>"What's the matter, Takamoto?" Kasamatsu asked the girl when he noticed her rummaging through her bag then afterwards through her pockets.</p><p>"I think I dropped my handkerchief somewhere outside when I took out my phone. I'll just run out for a quick check and I'll be back before your warm up's over." She called out to the team as she rushed towards the exit.</p><p>She hurriedly traced her previous steps as she tried to remember where she last took out her phone, hoping to find the item that she lost along the way. What she found however was not what she expected.</p><p>By the corner of the gym, she saw Kagami along with the boy from Yosen who Murasikabara was always with. He looked beaten up as he tried to shield what seemed to be a female foreigner who was also with them.</p><p>What mostly caught her attention though was the dark haired boy in braids who suddenly attempted to swing a punch towards Kagami. Luckily, the latter was able to dodge it just in time before it landed on his jaw.</p><p>The boy with the braided hair sneered upon missing, and as he was about to lift his fist once again Aimi managed to approach him just in time to grab it.</p><p>"Huh?" He growled, turning his head towards the owner of the hand.</p><p>"I'm surprised you still continued to play basketball. With that violent attitude of yours you should have been barred completely from playing the sport, Haizaki." Aimi said dangerously, spatting the boy's name in the process.</p><p>The other three stared in shock at the sudden intervention. They watched the exchange carefully as the boy named Haizaki sneered in response, snatching his arm away from the girl's hold.</p><p>"Why, if it isn't Akashi's former bitch." He drawls. "I heard you're screwing around with Kise nowadays though. I must say, your taste must be awful if you chose him as a replacement for the captain of the Generation of Miracles."</p><p>Remaining unfazed, Aimi shot him a murderous glare. "You better walk away now Haizaki if you know what's best for you."</p><p>The boy laughed maniacally then suddenly grabbed her by the neck and held her up with a tight grip.</p><p>"Oi! Stop that, you're going to kill her!" Kagami yells, currently at a loss on what to do.</p><p>Aimi could feel the grip getting tighter. She was pretty sure that a bruise would form later on. What's more, she felt losing her breath more and more every second.</p><p>Clearly having his fun, the boy decided to let go of her. As she began to choke and gasp for air, he suddenly grabbed her by the waist, pressing his body against her much to her disgust.</p><p>"On second thought, why don't you become my girl instead? I bet you're excellent in bed. Come to think of it, the only reason I didn't go after you was because you were Akashi's girl back then. Now that you're with Ryota, it would be so much easier to have my fun with you." He smiled devilishly as he inched his face towards hers.</p><p>Clearly disgusted with the boy, Aimi spat at his face before he could even come nearer.</p><p>"Why you fucking little whore!" He snarled, raising a hand to slap her face.</p><p>Before he could do so, a ball came hurling towards him which caused him to use his free hand to stop it instead.</p><p>"You've got some guts to throw a basketball at me out of nowhere, Ryota." Haizaki said dangerously.</p><p>Still in the boy's grasp, Aimi wasn't able to turn around freely to look at Kise. She felt his presence however and she knew that he was not happy.</p><p>"Kise!" Kagami exclaimed. "You know this guy?!"</p><p>Kise walked towards them calmly. "Yeah. His name's Haizaki Shogo, he was a starter at Teiko before I joined the team."</p><p>Haizaki observed him tauntingly and sneered at the blonde. "Would you look at that? Prince Charming came to rescue his princess."</p><p>Everyone could feel the now murderous aura emitting from Kise as he came face to face with the boy.</p><p>"You better let her go right now, Shogo kun. Or else I'd be inclined to settle the score between us right here outside the court." He said in a cold voice.</p><p>Before Aimi could protest, Haizaki suddenly replied and chuckled. "Well, that ain't fun."</p><p>He then let go of her and shoved her hard towards Kise who caught her just in time.</p><p>"Are you okay?" He asked softly, worry evidently etched on his face.</p><p>"I don't care about basketball, but after I quit people started calling you the Generation of Miracles. So I thought I'd steal again the title back from one of you." The boy says sneering at the blonde. "Besides, you're my next opponent so I have a solid reason to it, Ryota. After all, you never beat me."</p><p>Seeing Kise clench his other fist, Aimi wasted no time and wrapped him quickly in an embrace. "Stop it, Ryota. You need to calm down, nothing good will come out of this. Just beat him in the court and that'll shut him up."</p><p>Feeling Kise slowly calming down, she slowly let go of him. Haizaki suddenly laughed loudly at the display.</p><p>"Has the well known playboy finally been tied down by a girl? How pathetic." He continued to taunt.</p><p>Kise did not give in to the provocation, but instead turned towards Kagami and the bruised up Tatsuya to address him. "I hate to say this, but can you stand down for now? I kinda understand, but I really want you to let me play him on my next game. I'll take responsibility and beat him."</p><p>Kagami and the others seemed to agree which pissed Haizaki even more.</p><p>"I don't care about being called the Generation of Miracles, I think I told you that before already Kagamicchi. Even so, I won't sell it cheap and give it to you easily Shogo kun." Kise said as he turned towards the boy with the braided hair. "Especially after seeing you hurt someone important to me, I have no choice but to crush you in the court with all that I have."</p><p>With that the blonde started to leave, carefully assisting Aimi along with him.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The walk back to the court had been silent for both Kise and Aimi. The blonde didn't say anything, yet he continued to wrap an arm around her protectively as he guided her towards their destination. As they reached a couple of vendo machines, he gently urged her to sit down on one of the chairs while he took out something from his pocket.</p><p>"Here." He muttered as he handed her the handkerchief she though she lost. "I found it inside the locker room and forgot to give it to you. When Kasamatsu senpai told me where you had gone off, I followed you immediately but then I saw you with Shogo and the others."</p><p>Aimi stared blankly at the piece of fabric in his hands before slowly taking it. "Thank you..."</p><p>Kise then proceeded towards the vendo machines and inserted some coins to grab a drink.</p><p>"Ai chan!" Someone yelled.</p><p>It was Momoi who came rushing to her along with Aomine. The pink haired manager from Touou was just discussing with her childhood friend about how Haizaki Shogo was apparently going to be Kise's next opponent when they noticed the pair walking towards the empty tables on the other side. They quickly sensed that something was wrong judging from their demeanor so they rushed quickly to check them out.</p><p>"Ai chan, are you okay?! What happened?" Momoi gasped upon seeing the now ugly forming bruise around her neck.</p><p>Kise finally returned with a bottle of water in his hands and he handed it towards the white haired girl.</p><p>"Satsuki chan, Daiki kun. Are you here to watch the game?" She managed to ask casually although her voice was now hoarse because of the tight grip Haizaki had on her earlier.</p><p>Aomine noticed this as well and quickly began to assume what took place. "Who did this to you?" His voice was low with sudden anger.</p><p>Aimi didn't want to involve them with the situation, but Kise answered them without any hesitation.</p><p>"Haizaki Shogo."</p><p>She could hear Momoi gasp once again, her eyes filled with fear and concern for her friend. "No way... How could he?!"</p><p>"Well, apparently I arrived too late. That bastard was even able to do a number on Himuro kun. If Aicchi hadn't stopped me I would have probably murdered him right then and there." The blonde replied, his voice filled once again with anger.</p><p>Aomine placed a hand on his shoulders in his attempt to placate him. "You should hurry back in there. You still have a game to settle, don't you? We'll take it from here and make sure that Takamoto is well taken care of."</p><p>Realizing that he was running late, Kise nodded hesitantly before glancing back to the white haired girl. He released a sigh and took off his jacket, draping it over her shoulders as he prepared to take off towards the gym.</p><p>"I'll entrust her to you for the meantime, then." He tells Aomine as he made a run for it.</p><p>Staring back at his former manager's state, Aomine felt anger well up even more inside of him. "That fucking son of a bitch."</p><p>Aimi couldn't help but feel warmth build up inside of her despite her current predicament. "It's fine, Daiki kun. I'm fine now, aren't I?" She told him, giving him a sincere smile.</p><p>"Even so! All of this happened because of his stupid jealousy towards Kise. If it wasn't illegal to murder someone I would have probably given him a taste of his own medicine by now." The boy growled.</p><p>"I appreciate the concern, but I wouldn't allow you getting yourself into trouble because of trivial things." She told him.</p><p>"You think this is trivial?!" Aomine started to yell. "You know Takamoto, you may be a pain in the ass at times, but I still consider you as a friend. And no one hurts any of my friends and gets away from it that easy."</p><p>Aimi couldn't help but laugh, but her throat was hurting so much it resulted to her coughing.</p><p>"Don't push yourself, Ai chan!" Momoi says anxiously, afraid that the girl might be hurting herself more.</p><p>"I'm fine, I'm fine." She dismisses and smiles sincerely at the two teens before her, glad to have her old friends back. "Thank you, really. But let's leave it to Ryota to kick Haizaki's ass in the court as payment for his misdeeds."</p><p>Aomine huffs in response. "After seeing the look on his face earlier, I'm pretty sure he would destroy that bastard Haizaki. Hell, I've never seen him so angry before in my life. The boy's definitely got it bad for you."</p><p>"Don't be ridiculous, Daiki kun." Aimi blushes at the statement.</p><p>The dark skinned boy cocks his head to the side as he stared back at the girl. "What are you embarrassed for? Aren't you two supposed to be dating? Whatever. Can you stand? The game has probably started by now, we need to get you back in there."</p><p>As the two helped her up, she slowly made her way towards the court and after assuring the two that she was capable of walking on her own she bid goodbye to them and parted ways.</p><p>Aimi thought that she was able to slip inside the gym unnoticed. Little did she know, the other Generation of Miracles who were present somewhere in the stadium spotted her coming in late.</p><p>"Huh... I knew there was a reason Kise chin was fired up more than usual today." Murasikabara said to Tatsuya who was silently watching alongside the rest of his team mates. "Ne, Muro chin. Was Ai chin with you guys when Haizaki attacked you?"</p><p>Tatsuya freezed on his spot, remembering that Kise told them to keep quiet of the incident that occurred earlier.</p><p>"Aka chin would definitely murder that guy if Kise chin weren't able to after this game." He continued to tell him.</p><p>Tatsuya didn't understand what his teammate actually meant, but he definitely knew that the Haizaki guy made a grave mistake when he decided to touch the white haired manager from Kaijo.</p><p>The battle between Kise and Haizaki wasn't going all too well. Half time soon arrived, leaving Kaijo a bit troubled with the obstacle before them. Aimi has managed to cover up the bruises on her neck using Kise's team jacket. She didn't want to give anyone else something more to worry about especially now that they were clearly troubled on how to defeat their current opponent.</p><p>Everyone sat quietly inside the locker room during the half time break.</p><p>"Kise, do you think you can continue?" The coach asks, finally breaking the silence.</p><p>Everyone looked at the blonde who had a serious expression on his face as he looked like he was unusually contemplating deeply on something.</p><p>After a few seconds of silence he suddenly spoke up. "I can. Please let me continue."</p><p>His aura had been stronger than before as he raised his head to look up at his team. "I will defeat Shogo."</p><p>No one dared to object seeing his current state. It was one thing to see Kise acting so serious during a match, but the expression he showed to everyone at the moment was on a whole different level. He wasn't just prepared to enter a basketball match. In fact, he looked like he was prepared to go into a full out war.</p><p>As everyone cleared out the room to return to the court, Aimi couldn't help but grab on to the blonde's hand before he left as well. Once that it was only the two of them that remained inside, she suddenly started to speak up.</p><p>"Ryota. I... I'm sorry... Please be careful, you're still injured and you might end up pushing yourself and—"</p><p>Her words were cut off suddenly as a pair of soft lips crashed onto hers. She didn't expect it to happen but she didn't bother pushing him away either.</p><p>Kise held onto her tightly, his body filled with sweat from playing as he wrapped his arms around her petite frame. He was honestly scared when he saw her helplessly struggling in the arms of Haizaki earlier. Seeing her being molested by another man, he began to see red and it took all of his willpower not to beat the boy to a pulp right then and there. He knew he had to win this game. It was the only way to get his revenge for hurting Aimi. But now that he was experiencing trouble once again dealing with the said bastard, he felt like he didn't know what to do anymore.</p><p>Aimi was surprised by the blonde's sudden gesture. She didn't let go of him though, instead she held into him tightly like he did as tears suddenly filled her eyes.</p><p>When they finally pulled apart, the blonde noticed that she had started crying.</p><p>"Aicchi..." He murmured. Wiping away the tears on her cheeks with his thumb, his expression turned into concern for the girl.</p><p>"Stop crying. I'm not used to seeing you like this." He told her.</p><p>Aimi hastily wiped the remaining tears on her face. "Sorry." She blurted out, turning her back to him. "Let's go. You still have a match to finish."</p><p>Without having to be told twice, Kise followed her silently towards the stadium.</p><p>Although he had recharged his fighting spirit, Kise and the others still seemed to struggle against Haizaki as the boy continued to steal moves from Kaijo's team members.</p><p>After the blonde desperately tried to score another point, Aimi suddenly noticed that something was off. Kise was already overworked. She had already noticed this when he continued to practice hard even after their game with Touou. His injured leg wasn't fully healed yet, still he intentionally ignored his coach and Kasamatsu's orders for him to tone it down so that he would be able to fully heal.</p><p>As he failed miserably to stand up properly after dunking the ball inside the ring, Aimi had no choice but to watch him helplessly struggle with the pain that now obviously started to radiate from his injury.</p><p>"Come to think of it, you were crawling like that back when we were in junior high, Ryota." Haizaki suddenly exclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear. "That's right. And I stole your girlfriend back then as well, didn't I? That's just pathetic. I dumped her as soon as I was done with her anyway. I wonder if I would do the same to your precious Takamoto. It would definitely be such an achievement to be able to do her. I'd make sure to use her up so bad there wouldn't be anything let for you once I'm through."</p><p>Everyone seemed to think that he had crossed the line. Aimi could see that the other members from Kaijo were now even giving him murderous glares for daring to think of violating their manager. Even Hayakawa almost lunged forward to beat him up if not for Moriyama who managed to stop him.</p><p>Since even the referee heard Haizaki, he stepped into the court to issue the boy a warning. Fortunately, this prompted him to stop his taunting.</p><p>The stadium suddenly went quiet. Everyone from her team looked clearly exhausted, sweat dripping profusely from their bodies as they tried to catch their breaths. Aimi didn't know what else she could have done to help as she unconsciously called out to the blonde who was still on his knees.</p><p>"Ryota!" She cried out loud.</p><p>Someone seemed to hear her plea since not long after a loud and clear voice could be heard from the crowd above them.</p><p>"I believe in you, Kise kun!"</p><p>The white haired girl looked up towards the audience, seeing Kuroko standing amongst the crowd.</p><p>This seemed to wake Kise up from his stupor as after a few moments he finally managed to stand up on his own.</p><p>"Listen, Shogo kun." He started to address his opponent. "Before I beat you, you should know that you have the wrong idea about that girl back from middle school. She just followed me around and started calling herself my girlfriend. To be honest, it was annoying. She was so full of pride and such a boastful bitch. She just wanted people to know that she was dating a model."</p><p>He then finally looked at Haizaki in the eye, his own orbs blazing with newly lit fire within them. "I'd appreciate it if you would stop comparing Aicchi to that girl, since she's someone of such caliber that you can't compare to just simply any stupid woman you took who just flocked me because of my good looks. Don't get too carried away."</p><p>The next thing everyone knew as Kasamatsu passed the ball to Kise the blonde didn't bother running towards their end of the court. Instead, he motioned to a shooting position and released the ball from the opponent's end. It's like everything had gone into slow motion, as the ball perfectly went all the way inside the hoop and the audience let out mixed reactions of shock and amazement.</p><p>"Perfect Copy." Aimi mumbled while the crowd cheered. He finally did it, she thought. Kise has finally mastered being able to use the abilities of all the Generation of Miracles.</p><p>"If it's women and titles that you want, you can have them all." He starts to tell the now disconcerted Haizaki. "But I have someone to keep that is more important than any of that."</p><p>In no time, Kaijo effortlessly won the match. The crowd grew even more wild at their victory. Kise, however, in the midst of it all, didn't bother sparing a glance at Aimi. He did't even say a word to her even after everyone began packing up to head home.</p><p>Stepping out of the locker room, Aimi was about to sit on one of the benches by the door when someone she knew slowly appeared into view. She felt tensing up immediately upon recognizing the approaching figure who turned out to be Akashi, but then her expression showed a bit of confusion upon seeing a trace of concern in his eyes. The red haired boy did not utter a word, quietly stopping in front of her.</p><p>Not knowing how to react, Aimi just looked at him in return. Suddenly he reached out his hand all the way under the collar of Kise's jacket that she had been wearing to cover up her neck.</p><p>She winced at the cold sensation of his touch as Akashi knowingly observed the bruises covering her. Aimi's heart started beating fast at the unusual gesture. His fingers were gently tracing her skin, it's as if he was being very careful not to hurt her. It seemed for a moment that she was standing before the old boy she once fell in love with. He was acting the complete opposite of his current cold and authoritative demeanor.</p><p>Aimi tried to focus on what was happening but she was too distracted by his proximity. Akashi continued to remain silent but his eyes have done the speaking instead. He looked so concerned, Aimi thought. She's not sure how he found out about what happened, but this is Akashi after all. His eyes looked like they were piercing into her soul and in that moment she found herself lost in its depths.</p><p>The door from Kaijo's locker room suddenly opened and the team finally came out. They were done packing up and were busy chatting with each other when they noticed her with Rakuzan's captain standing nearby.</p><p>"Kise damn well showed that bastard who's the boss! Oi, what are you guys—" Hayakawa stopped mid sentence as he followed the other's line of sight.</p><p>"That's Takamoto right there, who's she..." Kasamatsu's eyes suddenly went wide as he glanced over to his blonde team mate who was staring impassively at the two.</p><p>Akashi still had his hand placed by the side of Aimi's neck. From where the others were standing, it looked like he was caressing her.</p><p>The voices from behind snapped the girl out of her daydream state. She flinched upon realizing her current position and immediately turned around to see Kise along with the rest of the other team members observing her with the red haired boy. Akashi let go of her at the same time.</p><p>"Oh." She simply managed to say. "Are you guys good to go? I was just waiting for all of you."</p><p>Kasamatsu nodded. "Yeah. Are you good over there?" Kaijo's captain asked her as he glanced over Akashi cautiously.</p><p>"Y-yeah... I'm good! I was just talking with Seijuro over here, but we're done now so..."</p><p>It was the only excuse Aimi could make up. They weren't actually talking. In fact, none of them even said a single word. But she didn't know how to explain that, so she just went for the easiest reason that they could understand.</p><p>Kise still wasn't looking at her, but he remained standing there even as the others left as if waiting for her to join him. His attention was directed towards Akashi who in return was also looking at the blonde.</p><p>"Akashi!" Someone called out from the other side.</p><p>Three boys came approaching from behind the red haired boy. Judging from the Rakuzan jerseys they were wearing, they were probably his team mates. The one with short blonde hair and one pointy tooth on the side was the one who yelled out.</p><p>"We've been looking for you everywhere. We need to get back to the hotel, Coach called for a meeting." He tells Rakuzan's captain. He along with the others were seemingly unaware of the current tension until they finally noticed the girl in front of them.</p><p>"Hey, I think I've seen you somewhere..." He wondered out loud. His voice was like a megaphone that everyone including Kise heard him. Observing the white haired girl and glancing back to Akashi, his expression transformed to what looked like a light bulb popping up on top of his head in realization.</p><p>Pointing a finger to Aimi like a child discovering something amazing, he exclaimed out loud. "You're that girl in the picture! The one on Akashi's phone wallpaper!"</p><p>She involuntarily stiffened and even if it was so subtle she saw the red haired boy do the same. Akashi's face then suddenly transformed back to being cold-blooded. His heterochromatic eyes who were soft as he looked at her a moment ago were now glaring.</p><p>"Let's go." He finally demanded lowly, speaking for the first time that evening. His teammates flinched and shot disapproving looks at their other teammate who had to open his big mouth.</p><p>Without sparing so much as a glance, he turned around and left.</p><p>After watching them disappear, Aimi slowly turned around to find Kise still standing there and now finally looking at her. His face was still unreadable, yet he patiently waited for the white haired girl to join him as they began to walk their own way towards the exit.</p><p>Their walk to the train station was awkward. So much has transpired today that Aimi almost forgot that they weren't exactly on good terms before their encounter with Haizaki that evening. But then he kissed her, she realized. And it didn't even bother her that he did. Was it perhaps because they were too caught up in the moment of the match? There wasn't any time after that to allow her to contemplate about it. How did she honestly feel about it?</p><p>How did she feel about him?</p><p>But then there was Akashi, who unexpectedly showed up and made things even more confusing than it already was. What was that sudden look he gave her? His team mate mentioned a picture of her on his phone. Why did he still have it as his wallpaper, when he was the one who left and cheated on her? The colors on his eyes were still mismatched, but the way she felt when he reached over to her made her heart skip a beat, her once lost hope for the old him slowly coming back. Was that really the case, however?</p><p>Enough of that though. She focused back to the boy beside her who was at present the current source of most of her confusion. Why did she get angry at him the other day again? She couldn't even remember. All she knew was that it sort of made her feel lonely when he started to distance himself. And when he kissed her back then at the locker room, she found herself kissing him back and holding on to him in return. Then it suddenly hit her.</p><p>For that brief moment, she wasn't denying her feelings. She allowed herself to act according to her emotions instead of ignoring them. But why did she seem to still feel something for Akashi earlier? Was that still love? Did she still love Akashi, is she already in love with Kise?</p><p>When she noticed that Kise disappeared beside her, she stopped on her tracks and looked behind to find the blonde who apparently stopped walking.</p><p>"Aicchi," He finally said and gave her a soft smile. "We don't have to take a break on this fake relationship."</p><p>Aimi didn't follow. She was about to ask why when he answered the unspoken question.</p><p>"Let's tell everyone we broke up and end this."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Author's Note: I'm so sorry for not updating sooner! It's pretty hard coping up with the pandemic and all and it gets pretty busy over here because of work I barely had time to write. :( I have managed 2 chapters in so far, so in the meantime I hope you enjoy! If you tell me what you think in the comments, I might make more time to add more. ;)</p><p>Chapter 12</p><p>Aimi looked out the window of her classroom, staring into the open field below as students slowly filled the empty space. Her classes were currently on the last period of the day and it couldn't have felt any longer. Lost in thought, she showed no trace of bothering to even listen at the teacher lecturing in front as her mind drifted back to last night's events.</p><p>Having caught momentarily off guard by what Kise had just said, she looked dumbly back at him.</p><p>"What...?" She manages to reply.</p><p>"I figured I'd just find another way to handle those girls without having to trouble you. Besides, now that Akashicchi seems to show signs that he still has feelings for you I don't think there's any reason to keep on convincing him that you've already moved on with another man right?" He tells her casually, as if they're talking about something as normal as the weather. "After all, you also seem to still have feelings for him no?"</p><p>Aimi wanted to deny it, but somehow deep inside she knew that Akashi still affected her. What kind of feelings still left for the red head however, she did not know what.</p><p>Her confused reaction seemed to convince the blonde on his decision. He immediately smiled cheerfully and released a carefree yawn as he stretched his arms up into the air. "Man, I'm beat. I'll go on ahead Aicchi. See you tomorrow at practice!"</p><p>"W-wait!" The white haired girl called out before he went ahead. "That thing that happened earlier in the locker room... Um..."</p><p>Why was she at a loss for words? She just wanted to ask why he kissed her, yet it suddenly felt so hard to do so.</p><p>Fortunately, Kise was able to read her mind. "Oh, that? Sorry, I think I just got too caught up in the moment, with all the pressure and all. Please don't get mad at me! We're still friends, right?"</p><p>Aimi blinked and continued staring. Yeah, friends. That's right. She figured since he always had girls flocking over him that it was in his nature being a playboy type after all. She should have been angry for playing with her like that, but why wasn't she? And what is with this tight feeling she had in her chest all of a sudden?</p><p>Friends. Yes, they were still friends. Just friends. They were just pretending to be a couple anyway.</p><p>"Right..."</p><p>"Aiiiiiiiimi chan!" Yui yelled out so loud she felt like her eardrums bursted.</p><p>"What is it? You don't need to shout at my face you know." Aimi glared snapping out of her stupor.</p><p>Her team mate huffed and crossed her arms. "Well if you'd respond the first time I called you I wouldn't have to. Classes have already ended and almost everyone had already left. Don't you have to go over to the basketball gym today?"</p><p>Realizing the time, she immediately put away all her stuff and walked briskly towards the door. "Thanks." She muttered to the short haired girl and left without waiting for her.</p><p>Kaijo's next match was against Seirin. The team was in high spirits that afternoon as everyone was more serious than the usual during training. Kise greeted her casually, noticing that he was back to subtly distancing himself and appearing less clingy like he had been the past few days. When practice finally ended, she handed her reports to the coach and started to grab her bag to leave.</p><p>"Huh, are you already leaving Taka chan? Aren't you gonna wait for Kise?" Moriyama asked when he saw the girl about to head out of the gym.</p><p>"Oh, it's fine I can walk home on my own anyway." She smiled.</p><p>"But he usually walks you home after practice. Don't tell me you two are fighting again." He scolds, although it was more directed to the blonde rather than her.</p><p>"It's fine!" She assures the senior. "Besides, there's no reason for him to do that anyway. Right, Ryota kun?"</p><p>She noticed the blonde stiffen for a tiny bit upon hearing her back to using honorifics but immediately shifted back to his relaxed demeanor.</p><p>"Right, um yeah. We kinda already broke up." He tells the others.</p><p>To say everyone was surprised by the piece of news was a bit of an understatement. Most of them stopped in their tracks. Hayakawa even had his mouth open as he stared back and forth from her to the blonde.</p><p>"Oi Kise! What are you playing at?" Kasamatsu glared at him, demanding an explanation as well as the rest of the boys.</p><p>The blonde raised both hands in front of him, stepping back to avoid getting a possible beating from his senior. "I'm not playing senpai! It's the truth!"</p><p>She did not know why she needed to help him, after all she did not know if she was upset anyway. Was she?</p><p>"He's telling the truth, senpai. But we're good. It was a mutual decision." She smiles at the rest of the boys, acting like what they just learned wasn't that much of a big deal. This earned her astonished looks but she managed to appear unbothered as she proceeded to wave them goodbye. "Well, then. I'm off. I gave the coach all the additional info you guys need to watch out for on your upcoming match against Seirin. I might not be able to make it since I have a match that time as well, but I'll be wishing all of you luck and you better win!"</p><p>Everything seemed to gradually return to how her normal daily routine used to be back from before. Of course, the student body eventually learned of their break up as expected. More gossip and whispers about what happened to her and the blonde started to erupt which really did not surprise her.</p><p>"I knew it. Kise kun maybe realized finally that she wasn't that good enough for her. I was actually surprised they started going out in the first place." One of the girls from her class said to another.</p><p>Aimi ignored them. She was used to people bashing her anyway. That's what they were all good at. Though they better not make a mistake on trying to do something to her, for her last encounter with a couple of mean girls from back then would definitely be the first and last. She was an ice queen after all, and no one would better dare to mess with her if they didn't want to be on the receiving end of those cold glares.</p><p>"Don't you people have anything better to talk about?!" Yui, as always, came to the rescue.</p><p>The girls shot her friend dirty looks as they all began to leave to probably find a better spot to continue their useless gossip. Yui, Reika and Miu were also surprised at the news of their sudden break up, but when they tried to inquire what happened one time during lunch she coldly dismissed them and said that it just happened.</p><p>'We're still friends.' That was all she told them.</p><p>They didn't want to pester her with it, seeing that she was usually colder than the usual whenever the topic was brought up. They weren't idiots though. No matter how casually she tried to act unbothered about it, they just knew that it was affecting her more than it showed.</p><p>Kise's fangirls had increasingly come out of hiding. They began flocking around him once again especially during breaks which were frankly impossible to ignore by any passerby. Aimi however didn't appear to look bothered whenever she crossed paths with such a sight. At least that's what she made it seem to appear as she barely spared a glance towards the boy whenever she saw him surrounded by them.</p><p>The truth was, she didn't know what she was feeling. She knew that she always had this tight feeling on her chest that sometimes made her hard to breathe. Was she angry? Was she hurt? She always found herself thinking over and over about it and about her lingering feelings for Akashi, but whenever the thought of having to ponder about it crosses her mind she stubbornly refuses to continue doing so.</p><p>Unfortunately, her constant denial made her unconsciously unstable. During the day of her next volleyball match, she seemed off. Her suppressed feelings had taken a toll on her and she refused to admit it so instead she channeled it all into her playing. She was playing aggressively during today's match, which was actually what was needed anyway since their current opponent was giving them a hard time.</p><p>The opposing team was already on match point as everyone pushed to give it their all on an intense rally. It was a do or die situation.</p><p>With one swift spike, their opponent slammed the ball into their court causing their libero to barely save it as it spun wildly out of bounds. Desperately trying to save it, Aimi had done the unthinkable. She dashed furiously towards the ball's direction as she jumped forward to reach it, successfully making a fast and super long set up from outside the court. Everyone was astonished by her managing to pull off such a feat, watching the ball land perfectly towards the spiker's palms as the ball slammed back perfectly towards the other side earning her team the victory. It was't however without a price.</p><p>After tossing the ball, Aimi landed the wrong way and went crashing backwards towards the referee table. After the whistle was blown signaling the end of the match, she found herself unable to get up. Her right leg felt numb for a while when she felt a sharp pain radiate from her ankle.</p><p>"Aimi chan!" Rina yelled as she rushed towards her. "Are you in pain? Where does it hurt?"</p><p>Giving her captain a weak smile, she forced herself up with all her might with the help of her team mates as she slings her hand over Yui's shoulder. "I'm fine, senpai. But I think I sprained my ankle."</p><p>Back at the locker room, Aimi had her leg laid properly on the benches while the coach examined her foot. Afterwards, one of her team mates was instructed to hand over the bandages.</p><p>"You're lucky it's just a mild sprain, Takamoto. I'm glad you earned us this win but you have to be more careful next time." She tells the white haired girl. "Unfortunately, I can't have you playing during the finals. I won't risk it."</p><p>Although everyone was supposed to be celebrating their victory, the room went quiet due to the revelation. Everyone knew that losing Aimi for the upcoming game will greatly affect their chances to win. Even she knew it too. She wanted to play so bad. Like any other athlete passionate about the sport they love, she badly wanted to win nationals. But then she blew it, all because her mind was too messed up to make better judgements.</p><p>"Now, now everyone! What's with those faces? We just won, and all thanks to Aimi over here! Are we just gonna show her that we're already accepting defeat when we've already come this far?" Rina suddenly said. She then looked over to the white haired girl who now had her face hidden from her hair as she had her head lowered.</p><p>Patting the girl's head, the captain smiled softly. "Thank you for your hard work, Aimi chan."</p><p>Tears slowly rolled down Aimi's face. It was not only because of the current situation, but also because of everything she had been trying so hard to bottle up inside her. She was frustrated, angry, hurt, and confused. She kept replaying in her mind what Akashi told her. Emotions are a weakness. Indeed, it made her weak. That's why she vowed to herself that she would never let anyone see her as weak. For the weak are losers, and losers end up being thrown away.</p><p>And it hurt so bad.</p><p>Her foot was now cleanly wrapped in a bandage. Once everyone had finished packing, Yui carefully assisted her as they walked towards the gym's exit.</p><p>"Thank you Yui, but you don't need to take me home. I'll just probably call my mom to have her inform the staff in our apartment and take a cab." She tells her friend.</p><p>"You don't need to. I already called someone." The girl says.</p><p>Aimi raised her eyebrows wondering what she meant when suddenly they came to a stop to meet someone waiting for them.</p><p>Right there standing in front was Kise. His team had just finished their game with Seirin when he received a text message from Yui, informing him that Aimi was injured from their match and that she needed someone to take her home. He knew that the white haired girl probably didn't know about her friend telling him, but he couldn't deny that he was concerned for her well being.</p><p>"Kise! Where are you going in such a hurry? We still need to hold a meeting." Kasamatsu informed the blonde seeing him rushing towards the locker room's door.</p><p>He didn't bother what his team mates would think, his priority right now was to get to her. No matter how much he tried to deny it, he couldn't ignore what he already realized he had been feeling for the white haired girl. He knew however that she probably didn't feel the same which was why he tried his best to hold back. She kept pushing him away after all. Not only that, but she seemed to always fall into harm because of him. His fangirls were one thing, but what happened to her with Haizaki was a whole different story. Besides, he could see that she still had feelings left for Akashi even though she always tried to deny it as well.</p><p>"Aicchi got injured during her match. I need to get to her." He tells his captain.</p><p>The serious look on his eyes as if saying that he won't be taking no for an answer was enough for Kasamatsu to just let out a deep sigh in return. "Go."</p><p>"Broke up my ass." Hayakawa muttered after the blonde had left.</p><p>Their captain only chuckled knowingly and smirked. "Those two are just as equally stubborn." He only shook his head afterwards at the rest.</p><p>"Ryota kun." Aimi could only say upon spotting the blonde. "What are you doing here?"</p><p>Turning towards her friend who had her on the shoulders, Yui smiled sheepishly and massaged the back of her neck with her other free hand.</p><p>"Um. I kinda told him about your injury..." The short haired girl tells her.</p><p>Aimi definitely wanted to strangle her if not for her current handicap. She shot her a knowing glare and sighed as she turned back to address Kise.</p><p>"I'm fine Ryota kun. I can handle as much as going home. You don't need to come with me." She told him while she tried to stand on her own, absolutely failing in the process.</p><p>Kise quickly reached out a hand to catch her from falling. With a frustrated sigh, he grabbed her arm and turned around so she faced his back as he crouched down. "Stop being so stubborn. Anyone could see that you can't so just shut up and let me help you."</p><p>His words left her shocked that she allowed him to guide her as she grabbed on to his neck and lifted them both up, carrying her with ease at his back.</p><p>Aimi hid the blush that was now creeping on her cheeks. The position she was caught in was slightly awkward, feeling her chest pressed onto the boy's back. She knew he probably felt it, but he gave no sign whatsoever of any reaction towards the matter.</p><p>"So how did your game go with Tetsuya kun?" She asked to break the deafening silence between them.</p><p>Kise remained silent for a moment and suddenly lowered his head.</p><p>"We lost." He muttered.</p><p>Although she could not see his face, she could feel the depression coming out of him from his voice. Feeling the urge to comfort the blonde, she wrapped her arms around his neck a bit tighter.</p><p>"I'm sorry." She whispered to his ear softly.</p><p>She felt him give a slight wince before returning to his normal expression. "You should worry more about yourself in your current state. I suppose you won't be allowed to play at the finals, it must be hard for you."</p><p>Aimi did not give him a response, but he saw her clench her fists from the side as her arms still wrapped around him. The boy adjusted his hold on her thighs, giving her a slight nudge as he lifted her more properly.</p><p>"I don't think I have already told you this, but a sad face doesn't really suit you." He told her.</p><p>When they reached her apartment, he helped her all the way to her room and sat her down on the bed.</p><p>"Thanks." She muttered.</p><p>They stared at each other for a moment before Kise broke eye contact and shifted his hands in his pockets. "So... I'll just be heading out now."</p><p>Before he could reach the doorway, Aimi had finally spoken up.</p><p>"How have you been lately?" She asked, loud enough for him to hear.</p><p>The blonde turned around, raising an eyebrow slightly since he did not expect the question. "Same old." He shrugged. "What about you?"</p><p>She shrugged the same way. "Nothing much, except for this stupid sprain that I have to live with for the next few days."</p><p>Smiling softly, Kise slowly made his way back towards the bed and sat beside her. "When I received the text from Yui san, I was worried."</p><p>"You shouldn't be." She told him immediately. "It's just a little sprain anyways."</p><p>"I guess I'm in no position to lecture you. Coach made me sit out for the first half of the game because I overworked my leg. Although, I have to say that this is so unlike you Aicchi. You don't usually make careless decisions like this even if it's during a tough game." He chuckled.</p><p>"Well... I had a lot on my mind lately." She murmured.</p><p>The blonde paused for a moment. He seemed to be hesitant before responding. "Is it about Akashicchi?"</p><p>Unable to look at him in the eye, she settled for his feet instead. "I think so."</p><p>She didn't lie, but she wasn't exactly telling the entire truth either. She didn't know what went on Kise's mind. Then again, she couldn't understand what's up with hers as well.</p><p>"Guess he really never loses, huh?" He muttered then finally stood up. "Aicchi. If I told you right now that I like you, what will you say?"</p><p>Caught off guard by the sudden act of what she thought was a possible confrontation, Aimi hesitated for a moment before finally answering. "I'd say you're probably just shitting me."</p><p>She really wanted to slap herself then and there. What was wrong with her? That was clearly an attempt on a confession, yet she went on denying it. Again. But it was for the best, she thought. It would be unfair to him if she still had mixed emotions that she couldn't come to terms with. She knew that she needed to fix her current dilemma first before thinking of anything else.</p><p>"I see." The blonde muttered, then resorted back to the carefree and cheerful guy he had usually been when acting around her. "Well then, see you at school!"</p><p>With that, he left without looking back.</p>
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<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 13</p><p>After their conversation at her room the other day, Kise acted more and more distant. Although both of them tried to act as casual as possible, their conversations were eventually limited to the normal greetings and random conversations during basketball practice.</p><p>Aimi slowly returned to her usual demeanor back when after she broke up with Akashi. She always acted cold and didn't really care about anyone, despite having Yui and the others constantly trying to always include her in all their activities.</p><p>One day, when she was currently researching for her research paper in the library she accidentally bumped into Kasamatsu who was currently searching for a book on the same section as hers. She was trying to reach a book on the top shelf when a hand suddenly grabbed it easily and handed it to her.</p><p>"Oh, senpai. I didn't notice you. Thanks for the help." She told him politely.</p><p>The senior smiled at her in return, clearly used to her presence by now even if she was a girl. Since Aimi was already close to the team, she was an exception when it came to Kasamatsu's shyness when it came to women. "You seem to be awfully preoccupied nowadays, Takamoto."</p><p>Aimi smiled at him. "I guess our teachers had a lot to load us with. Are you here to work on some paperwork too, senpai? You can table with me, seeing that everywhere else is full. I don't really mind." </p><p>Kasamatsu accepted the offer and grabbed a couple of books that he needed before joining her. The two of them worked in silence. Aimi was so concentrated in her work that she did not notice the time until the librarian called out to them. As she checked her phone, she noticed that the senior had been done with his work already and it looked like he was just waiting for her to finish. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she quickly packed all her things and both of them started to leave.</p><p>"Are you doing okay lately? You seem out of yourself." Kasamatsu finally said after they exited the library.</p><p>It was really unusual to be having a conversation with him, but then again he was one of the people in Kaijo that she easily got along with.</p><p>"I'm fine, senpai. Why do you ask?" she answered.</p><p>The basketball captain let out a knowing sigh, contrary to her expectations. "I'm really not someone to meddle in someone's affairs, but you're really a pro when it comes to pretending. Aren't you, Takamoto?"</p><p>"I... I'm not sure what you're talking about, senpai."</p><p>"I'm pretty sure you do. And another thing I'm pretty sure of is that it involves a certain blonde," he said. "I may not be the best person for you to open up to, but I'm still your senior. If there's anything that's bothering you, you can always talk to me. You should know by now that you're no different than how I treat the other guys from the basketball team."</p><p>At the boy's words, Aimi felt a pang of guilt inside her. She didn't know that even though she managed to build a wall between her and the other guys that they considered her as someone close to them. She was just a manager, yet Kasamatsu made it a point to make her feel that she was and had always been part of their circle. Somehow, she missed this feeling of having people making her feel that she belonged.</p><p>"Senpai... Can I tell you something?" She asked, deciding that she needed to confide into someone before she went crazy dealing with her thoughts all by herself. "Kise and I... Well, we were really not a couple. We were just pretending to be one for various reasons."</p><p>That was it. She spilled the secret both of them had been carrying for the past couple of months. Aimi wondered what he would think knowing that everything they made out to be in the eyes of the student body had all been just a lie.</p><p>"It didn't really take long for me to figure that out." Kasamatsu answered simply, slightly surprising her in the process. "My question however is, were you just pretending the entire time?"</p><p>She didn't know how to answer that, so instead she remained silent as they continued to walk towards the school gate.</p><p>"Look, I don't need to really know what happened between you two, but one thing I'm pretty sure of is that the time you spent whenever you were together was not pretend at all," the captain continued to say. "One would be an idiot if they didn't notice how Kise genuinely cared for you, and that goes the same for you as well."</p><p>Aimi stopped on her tracks and clenched her fists. "I don't think he deserves someone like me."</p><p>"Why not? That idiot's so full of himself that I'm actually still surprised someone like you has managed to put up with him," he half joked. "Look. I don't really know why you two decided to break it up, but one thing I'm sure of is that both of you feel the same way for each other. Whatever's going on between the two of you right now, I'm pretty certain you two will be able to fix it."</p><p>She kept replaying her conversation with Kasamatsu in her head during the next few days. Although she clearly knew what the problem was, she just couldn't seem to admit to herself that it lies within her. Eventually, she started to think that it was best to let it be. She seemed afraid to deal with her feelings. She didn't want to think about it at all.</p><p>During the weekend, she received a text from Momoi asking her to meet up with Aomine. She figured that she didn't have anything important to do that day so she agreed. Little did she know, the two currently had an idea on what was going on so they intentionally set up an opportunity to be able to confront her about it.</p><p>"Oi, Takamoto. Is there something that's bothering you lately?" Aomine asked her while they were hanging out at a nearby basketball court.</p><p>Aimi answered the boy casually. "Well, I was hoping to heal my ankle before my next game but I don't think it's possible by now."</p><p>The dark skinned boy shot the ball into the hoop lazily and rushed over to pick it up. "Quit playing dumb. Kise told me to check on you since apparently you've been keeping things to yourself again lately."</p><p>She stared at him like an idiot, a bit surprised by the revelation. "He did...?"</p><p>"Yeah." He gruffed. "I don't know what's happening, but I know him very well and the fact that he asked us to check on you means that there's something going on. Did you two get into a fight or something?"</p><p>Aimi didn't want to disclose the entire truth to them, so she settled for the next possible reason. "We broke up."</p><p>Of course, Aomine wasn't stupid. He was one of the Generation of Miracles after all. Finally deciding to sit down by the nearby benches, he wiped off the sweat from his face before grabbing the water bottle Aimi handed over to him. "Is it because of Akashi?" He asked.</p><p>Aomine had been a close friend, and even after the slight distance that happened between them after they graduated from middle school, she knew that the bond was still there. Sitting beside Aomine, she decided to speak about her current feelings. "I'm not sure. I think I still have feelings left for him, though I can't tell what it is exactly."</p><p>She paused briefly before finally deciding to continue. "But I seem to feel something for Ryota as well..."</p><p>"You know Takamoto, you don't really need to hide it. We all knew how upset you were when you and Akashi broke up." The boy revealed. "Are you perhaps afraid that you're feeling the same feeling you felt again, and towards another person this time?"</p><p>Was she?</p><p>"I... Perhaps." She finally admitted. "I don't think I had a proper closure with what happened between me and Akashi. Besides, Kise has lots of girls fawning all over him."</p><p>"Are you kidding me?" He snorts. "I've known that idiot for so long. He maybe a moron at times but he ain't stupid enough to stand up to our former captain for just any other girl like the way he did when we all met up during the Winter Cup opening. Even I don't have the balls to stand up to Akashi like the way he did back then."</p><p>"Is that supposed to prove something, then?" she asked.</p><p>"What are you really afraid of?" Aomine replied.</p><p>Aimi was silent for a while. She stared up ahead and watched several other kids playing on the nearby playground. "Falling in love."</p><p>She had to admit that she was a bit surprised that Aomine hadn't laughed at her response. </p><p>"Everyone falls in love at some point." he said.</p><p>Aimi glanced over to Aomine with a bit of mischief in her eyes. "Wow, I didn't think that would come from you. Does Satsuki know how you feel? Where is she anyway? She's late more than the usual."</p><p>"Baka. Don't drag Satsuki into this." He may have tried his best to hide it, but Aimi did not miss the faint blush that crept up on his cheeks.</p><p>She giggled softly at his reaction before resuming her serious expression. "I'm afraid of getting hurt again."</p><p>"Not getting hurt is impossible." Aomine scoffed, earning a confused look from the white haired girl beside him. "Besides, are you sure that you're not hurting him as well now?"</p><p>Aomine was right. Aimi felt selfish for only thinking of her own issues that she forgot to consider how Kise felt.</p><p>"Stop denying yourself what you really feel."</p><p>What did she really feel anyway?</p><p>On the way home, she stopped by the usual convenience store near her place when someone called out her name. She turned around and noticed a familiar face that haunted her from the past.</p><p>"Is that you, Takamoto san? I can't believe that we'd bump into each other here like this!" the girl exclaimed and smiled warmly which made Aimi shift uncomfortably.</p><p>This was the girl that Akashi had cheated her on.</p><p>The soft waves of her brown locks bounced elegantly as she held onto her hand. Aimi automatically flinched at the contact which did not go unnoticed by the girl.</p><p>"Sato san, right? You were in Akashi's class," she said coolly. There were numerous questions that she wanted to ask her and that included why she was here of all places.</p><p>Sensing this, Sato replied, "Oh, my parents changed jobs so we moved here recently. I didn't know that you were from this area. The coincidence had surprised me! Listen, Takamoto san, are you busy right now? If it isn't too much maybe we could... maybe we could chat for a bit?"</p><p>The girl's expression had suddenly changed. She looked hesitant at first, but then changed to a more determined look as she waited for Aimi to give her answer.</p><p>Aimi didn't want to have anything to do with her. If possible, she would have just ignored the girl and left. However, there was a voice at the back of her head that seemed to have kept on telling her to agree.</p><p>"Alright," she finally answered.</p><p>The corners of Sato's mouth once again lifted into a smile as she flashed her pearly white teeth at her. "Great! Do you want to stroll around for a bit?"</p><p>After settling on a bench at the nearby park, Sato handed over a popsicle to her.</p><p>"I figured that I interrupted you at the store so you weren't able to buy anything for yourself. It isn't much, but I've managed to get a popsicle for each of us," she said as she started to open her own.</p><p>Aimi stared at the popsicle in her hands for a few seconds before finally taking it. Seeing that the girl started eating hers, she decided that there was no harm to do the same as well.<br/>Both girls finished their popsicles in silence, watching other people strolling around the pathway of the park when Sato finally said something.</p><p>"I would like to apologize for what happened in middle school," she said before taking a deep breath. "The truth is that Akashi and I never got together. We were never romantically involved and there was nothing between us."</p><p>What she said made Aimi turn her head towards her with an expression of curiosity mixed with confusion.</p><p>When she didn't say anything, Sato continued talking. "When you saw us together at the gym that day, we weren't actually doing anything that you thought we did. We only made it that way to make you think that we were fooling around."</p><p>Aimi's shoulders involuntarily tensed up as she had flashbacks of seeing Sato and Akashi's faces close to each other on the bleachers the moment she had arrived at the gym.</p><p>"You don't have to defend yourself. What's done is done and I have gotten over with that already. Besides, I saw you two with my own eyes," she deadpanned.</p><p>Sato immediately shook her head. "That's just it, Takamoto san! You thought Akashi was kissing me, right? The truth was he was only whispering something in my ear, instructing me not to move and play along with him."</p><p>Aimi raised her eyebrows at the sudden revelation. Akashi had set her up. But why did he wanted her to think that he had been fooling around with another girl?</p><p>"The day before he called you over to the gym, Akashi kun approached me after class and asked for a favor. I have never asked more about it, but he only told me that his current situation was complicated and that he didn't want you to suffer from it. I was actually surprised at first. Everyone knew that Akashi rarely asked for help from someone. In fact, it was always the other way around," Sato mumbled.</p><p>Aimi could feel her heartbeat increasing. It took a moment for her to process the new information properly. All this time, she thought that he left her because she wasn't good enough. She thought that he despised her weakness and grew tired of her, and that what made him leave her for another girl.</p><p>"I'm really sorry, Takamoto san." The brown haired girl reached over to her and placed her hand on top of hers gently. "I never meant to hurt you. I'm not that kind of girl. I wanted to tell you the truth but Akashi kun told me that I shouldn't under any circumstances. What I have agreed to do still made me feel guilty till today, and I vowed to myself that should I meet you again after we have graduated that I will definitely confront you with the truth. I guess God is on my side today, since our paths were apparently destined to have met."<br/>Sensing the sincerity on the girl's actions, Aimi's eyes softened as she moved her other hand and placed it on top of hers. "It's all in the past, right?" </p><p>Sato breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. It felt like as if a huge thorn had just been removed from her body. Before standing up, she smiled bitterly and said, "Akashi kun must have really cared for you so much that he'd rather lose you than to have you caught up with his troubles. Well, then. I guess this is a goodbye for now Takamoto san. I hope we'd see each other again!"</p><p>Several minutes had already passed by and Aimi still sat on the bench by the park. She leaned back and closed her eyes, thinking of what to do next. When it was almost dark, she took out her phone and sent and a message addressed to the red head emperor of Rakuzan.</p><p>We need to talk. Let's meet.</p><p>A series of emotions coursed through her. Now that she knew that what Akashi did was a lie, how did she feel about it now? For some reason, what she learned didn't seem to help her at all. Before she could think twice on meeting him, her phone suddenly beeped. It was a reply from Akashi.</p><p>Tomorrow, 2pm. I'm coming to Kanagawa.</p>
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<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Author's note: I'd very much appreciate it if you comment what you think ~  It makes me motivated to update sooner! :)</p><p>Chapter 14</p><p>"How's Kise kun doing these days? I don't think I've seen him visit lately. Is he busy with basketball practice and his modeling job?"</p><p>What Aimi liked —and sometimes hated— about her mom was that no matter how busy and seldom home she was, her senses were as sharp as a brand new knife. She always seemed to notice literally everything, especially when there was something wrong.</p><p>"Yeah, he is," the white haired girl lied. The truth was that she had no idea what he was up to these days.</p><p>Luckily, her mother wasn't the type of person to push things. Even if she knew that something was up, she still waited for her daughter to openly talk about it.</p><p>"Well, tell him to come and visit soon then. It keeps the house less lonely especially when I'm not around," the woman hummed.</p><p>Aimi continued on chopping the vegetables in silence. It wasn't after she was done with everything that she smiled and answered, "Sure, mom."</p><p>The next day, she left the house early. Although she was aware that she wouldn't be meeting Akashi until after lunch, she decided to go for a jog. She didn't feel any pain anymore from her injured ankle, but her coach had still forbidden her from running until it was fully healed to avoid possible worse injuries. Still, she couldn't help it. It had been a restless night for her and she needed something to take her mind off things even for a moment.</p><p>After a couple of laps around the nearby park, she quickly returned home to wash up and get ready. That was when she realized that she didn't know where she would be meeting the red haired boy.</p><p>Furrowing her brows, she grabbed her phone to text Akashi when the doorbell suddenly rang. Much to her surprise, he was the one standing by her doorstep.</p><p>Aimi raised her eyebrows at the sight of her ex-boyfriend standing by the doorway. A tiny smirk tried to fight its way through her lips as she looked at his preppy style with the button down shirt and a vest on top. She hated to admit that it annoyingly looked good on him even back when they were still in middle school.</p><p>"What are you doing here?" she asked.</p><p>"Didn't I say that I'm coming to Kanagawa?" The red haired boy raised an eyebrow and shot her a look as if to state her the obvious.</p><p>"I meant here, in my house," she muttered.</p><p>His shoulders gave out a light shrug as he placed his hands inside both of his pockets, his face not giving away any emotion. "It has been a long time since I last stopped by. Is your mother home?"</p><p>"She isn't. Her duty started before dawn."</p><p>Even though the atmosphere was a bit uneasy for her, she had never forgotten her manners and motioned for him to come in. After all, she grew up in upper society just like him.</p><p>"Coffee? Tea?"</p><p>"No need. Are those the games you and Ryota play whenever he's here?" he asked, eyes fixed on the stack of cd's beside her latest model of the playstation.</p><p>It took a couple of seconds before she could answer, "Yeah."</p><p>"I heard that you two broke up."</p><p>Rolling her eyes, she finally resolved to sit down on the armchair next to him. "Are you expecting me to be surprised that you knew?"</p><p>He did not respond to her question. Instead his eyes travelled towards her foot. "How's your injury?"</p><p>If she told him that she wasn't surprised earlier, she now was. Her brows furrowed as she stared at her injured foot, wondering how on earth the boy next to her knew so much information when he opened his mouth once again to answer her unspoken question.</p><p>"Daiki told me."</p><p>She bit back a scoff and muttered quietly to herself on how much of a traitor Aomine was. But then again, this was Akashi. For all she knew, he had tricked the guy into telling him about her. It's not like she had been hiding her accident anyway.</p><p>"I believe there's something you wanted to talk about?" he asked once again, probably because she had been silent.</p><p>Aimi held her breath. She seemed so decided to ask him last night, but now she felt like she wanted to back out. However, there was already no turning back. She looked at him straight in the eyes and simply said, "I met Sato san yesterday."</p><p>If it wasn't for her keen senses and knowing the boy so well, she wouldn't have noticed the subtle stiffening of his shoulders. It was only barely a split-second, the same time as his eyes involuntarily twitched at the mention of their former school mate's name. From the looks of his vacant expression, she knew that he was aware that he had no reason to lie any further.</p><p>"Why, Seijuro?" That was all she managed to ask, her voice barely above a whisper.</p><p>Akashi stared at her for a long time, his face void of emotion yet his heterochromatic eyes clearly said otherwise. After a moment of silence, he finally answered, "To protect you from myself."</p><p>"By keeping me in the dark?" she snapped. "You know that I would have understood, yet you chose to break my heart and let me believed that you didn't care. I wanted to hate you so much back then, but instead I ended up hating myself because I couldn't seem to erase all the feelings I had for you!"</p><p>"Do you still have feelings for me, Aimi?" he asked in a low voice.</p><p>The question had caught her off guard. She honestly didn't know the answer to that question, and that was what she was trying to figure out for the past couple of weeks. That question which she couldn't confidently give an answer to was the reason why she was in this mess right now. Thinking of how to respond, she muttered, "I..."</p><p>"Because I still do."</p><p>Just when she thought that talking to him would give her some sense of closure, it had just turned to the exact opposite. At first, she thought she had misheard him, but as she stared at his piercing gaze there wasn't any slightest hint that he might just be messing with her. Her eyes travelled upwards as she looked up at the ceiling and released a sigh she didn't know she had been holding.</p><p>"Do you love Ryota?" he asked once again amidst her silence.</p><p>Aimi didn't move from her position. Her eyes were still fixed up on the ceiling as she thought of the answer. What did she feel about Kise? Even if she knew, would she even tell Akashi?</p><p>"Why are you telling me that you still have feelings for me? Why now?" She chose to ignore his last question.</p><p>"Answer the question, Aimi. Do you love Ryota?"</p><p>"Why should I answer you?!" She was now yelling out in frustration.</p><p>Akashi shot her a cold glare, causing her to bite her lip at the realization of her sudden outburst before she mumbled, "Don't make it harder for me than it already is."</p><p>The two of them didn't say anything else for a while. The room had enveloped in silence as Aimi tried her best to avoid looking at him. Even when she refused to look at his direction, she clearly felt his penetrating gaze.</p><p>After a while, he finally stood and headed for the door. "I won't force you, but I'm going to only say this once. If you think you could give us another chance, you know where to find me."</p><p>As she lay in bed that night, her conversation with Akashi kept on replaying on her mind. Of course, there was no denying that she still felt affected when it came to him. However, she realized that it wasn't as heavy as before. In fact, ever since she and Kise started 'going out', he had rarely crossed her mind.</p><p>"Damn it," she cursed out and buried her face on her pillow. Akashi still had feelings for her, and now he wanted her back. Yes, she still cared for him. Even though it wasn't that much as compared to back then, she still did. If she agreed to give their relationship another chance, she would definitely learn to love him again just like before. Did she want to return to him, though?</p><p>Suddenly, the image of the happy-go-lucky blonde invaded her thoughts. She recalled how they hung out in her room almost every day after school to study. Then, they would eventually order take out and play a bunch of video games until evening. At school, they would spend lunch together whenever they had free time. He would always shout out her name annoyingly to get her attention whenever he made a difficult shot during basketball practice, and would pout like a baby when she refused to cheer for him while playing.</p><p>At first, they only held hands when there were a lot of students who could see them. But as time went by, Kise always interlocked his fingers with hers even when no one was watching, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. The funny thing was, neither of them seemed to be bothered by it at all. As Aimi thought of all of these, her lips curled up into a bitter smile. If that still didn't tell her that she was already in love with him, then she was hopeless.</p><p>She hadn't seen Kise that much the next day at school. Last night, she had somewhat resolved to confront him about what he meant during their last conversation at her room. She just needed to talk to him first, then she would be able to properly give Akashi an answer.</p><p>During lunch, she had finally spotted him. Unfortunately, he was as usual crowded once again by a bunch of his fangirls. Although he didn't seem to have noticed her, she saw one girl clinging too close to him more than necessary. His smile was polite, albeit being a bit strained which Aimi clearly knew so well whenever he faked a cool appearance in front of others. Still, the fact that he didn't bother to release himself from the girl's grasp somewhat gave her a strange pang of jealousy. Of course, she would rather die before she admitted that to anyone. So, she turned the other way around and ignored what she saw. They had basketball practice later and she would just talk to him by then.</p><p>She was a bit earlier than usual when she entered the gym. As she made her way to the storage room to gather the balls, she noticed that the door to the locker room was slightly open. Slightly frowning, she decided to check if there was someone already inside.</p><p>After knocking on the door twice, she called out, "Is somebody already here?"</p><p>What answered her, much to her surprise was a sudden yelp. It was a girl's voice. Her frown deepened as she pushed the door open even further and let herself inside. She opened her mouth and was about to reprimand the intruder when the sight of what welcomed her made her immediately stop in her tracks.</p><p>Kise stood there, half naked with a girl in his arms. Both of his hands were wrapped around her hips, and the girl's body was pressed to his bare chest. Aimi's eyes travelled towards the ground where she noticed the top of his basketball jersey sprawled on the floor like it had been hastily tossed there. As the girl turned around, her face was heavily flustered as if they had been caught doing something private.</p><p>Aimi hoped that they didn't notice her gulp, for she felt as if the huge lump that suddenly formed inside her throat took her forever to swallow. Thankfully, she was an expert when it came to maintaining a straight face. Without giving away any reaction, she just said, "Oh."</p><p>Neither of them said a word, so she turned her back to them and continued, "Non-athletes are not allowed inside the locker rooms. The others will be arriving soon."</p><p>And with that, she left.</p><p>Her heart was beating too loud for her own liking the moment she stepped out the door. She stood there for a while, feeling a bit lost. For some reason, she was hoping for Kise to come after her and explain the situation. However, the one who came out minutes later was the girl, who silently slipped out of the gym without a word. That was when she had recognized her as the one who had been clinging to him at lunch earlier. It felt like the air around her had suddenly gotten harder to breathe in.</p><p>All throughout practice, Kise did not mention anything about the little incident from the locker room. In fact, he acted as if it hadn't happened. Although Aimi caught him a few times hesitantly staring at her, she figured that it was because he felt at least guilty that she was the one to see them fooling around. She did not give him the satisfaction of showing a reaction. In fact, why should she react anyway? It's not as if they were really together. She was the one who had pushed him away, right?</p><p>Right. So, how come she felt an inexplicable pain in her chest? It was frustrating that even now, she still tried her best to deny how she felt even if it was only to herself. It didn't matter anymore, anyway. It was too late. She was too late. Their whole ordeal was originally a pretense, which was why they were never really meant to be in the first place. Yes, that was the conclusion she gave herself to end whatever this was once and for all.</p><p>Neither Kise nor her had made any attempt to speak to each other after that. Aimi continued to see him with the same girl hanging around with him more often, which made her ignore them all the more. Since he didn't even make any attempt to explain, she figured that it was his own way of telling her that they had nothing to do with each other any longer. The only times they get to really interact was during basketball practice. Actually, no one could call that 'interaction', since she basically only spoke to him whenever she spoke to the team as a whole.</p><p>One day, she didn't come to school. Since there wasn't any scheduled training and there were technically no classes to give time for the student body to prepare for the upcoming school festival, she opted for a trip to Kyoto instead.</p><p>In a dainty casual dress, she stood in front of the gates of the prestigious Rakuzan High School. Her eyes roamed around the buildings of the vicinity, trying to find the way to the basketball gymnasium. It was already afternoon and time for club activities at Rakuzan which was why there were a lot of students outside, especially in the sports area. Since she was too busy looking for directions, she didn't notice that the students in the area were staring at her. She was a new face after all, and the boys obviously thought that she was pretty.</p><p>"Hey, there. You're not from here, are you? Are you looking for someone? Maybe we can help you," a couple of boys approached her and flashed a friendly smile.</p><p>"Yes. Could you point me to the direction of your gym please?" she asked politely, noting that they were wearing Rakuzan's basketball jerseys.</p><p>"Oh? What a coincidence. Are you seeing someone from our team, then?" one of them gave a playful smirk.</p><p>She raised her eyebrows at them. "Actually, I'm here to see your captain."</p><p>Aimi wanted to roll her eyes at their surprised faces, but she didn't wanted to seem rude. As most of them started to recover from their initial shock, one of the boys suddenly exclaimed, "Hang on, I think I recognize you from JPN Youth's Sports Magazine..."</p><p>His comment had even garnered another round of surprised reactions that she let out a soft sigh and said, "Would it be okay if you take me to Seijuro?"</p><p>Of course, the use of their intimidating captain's first name wasn't missed. The girl in front of them was someone definitely close to Akashi. They found themselves nodding absentmindedly and leading the way to their practice.</p><p>When they finally arrived at the gym, she thanked the boys and headed towards the bleachers. "Please don't bother with telling him that I'm here. I'm sure that he'll immediately see me and I don't want to disturb your training."</p><p>They nodded awkwardly and smiled while gaping at her natural beauty, silently admitting to themselves how jealous they were that their captain had such a pretty girl.</p><p>She already knew that Akashi had seen her the moment she stepped inside the gym, which was why she had chosen to wait quietly for him somewhere that wouldn't end up distracting the other team members.</p><p>Once practice had ended, he was the first one to come out of the locker room. Then, he made his way up the bleachers to where she was and sat down beside her.</p><p>Taking his silence as if he was waiting for her to tell him her purpose for coming, she murmured, "I don't want to be unfair to you, Seijuro. To be honest, I've been so confused with my feelings lately that I can't really make a clear decision. I don't want to lie to you, but even though I have feelings for a certain someone, I still also have some left for you. I'm not sure how serious you were with what you said last time and this may sound selfish of me, but... I'm willing to give us a try. Maybe we can see where this goes, but I can't promise you anything. You might be a bit different from before, but you're still the Seijuro I know. Right?"</p><p>As she stared into his eyes, she could see that he was deciding on how to respond. Even though his demeanor was colder than he used to be before his other personality showed up, she still felt as if the old Akashi was still there and he could hear her.</p><p>Without giving away any expression, the red head stood up and held out a hand. Aimi fought the urge to smile, knowing that he was pretty discreet to the public when it came towards his private affairs. That simple act of wanting to hold her hand right there at least told her that he was trying.</p>
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